can you feel that? ah, shit.
Jun. 30th, 2009 11:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intertribalIt's pointless Monday, which means I'm making a post about my top 10 horror movies (deliberately chosen to reflect a variety of genres. I used Stephen King's trifecta of horror: "“I’ll try to terrify you first, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll horrify you, and if I can’t make it there, I’ll try to gross you out. I’m not proud.”
1. Kairo / Pulse (2001).
Premise: The dead are coming in through the internet to take life from the living - first Tokyo, then the world.
Execution: A sensitive and profound movie about isolation, social destruction, and life itself.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror with some horror. This is an atmospheric movie, but there are a few genuinely disturbing scenes involving ghosts, corpse marks, and suicides - and computers that turn on by themselves. Believe me, in this movie, this is scary.
Ignore: The horrible American remake.
2. El Espinazo Del Diablo / The Devil's Backbone (2001).
Premise: During the Spanish Civil War an isolated boys' boarding school is tormented by The One Who Sighs.
Execution: Politically and emotionally rich with a strong plot and macabre symbolism galore. Far superior to Pan's Labyrinth.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror and horror. There's a lot of suspense but the ghost encounters, especially in the beginning, are very scary indeed. A bit of grossout if you count the deformed fetuses in jars and all the blood.
Ignore: The occasionally off CG and slightly sentimental vibe.
3. 28 Days Later (2002).
Premise: Most of England has either been eaten or Infected. The survivors look for other survivors and try to save their souls.
Execution: What made this zombie movie groundbreaking was its use of digital video and a melancholy score.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Horror and grossout. London as a wasteland and the behavior of some humans are horrific, but the infection is passed through vomiting blood and eyes get gouged out.
Ignore: The hype. It's worth it.
4. Marebito / The Stranger From Afar (2004).
Premise: A creepy documentarian finds a feral girl in the tunnels beneath the subway. She's a little off.
Execution: Another digital video wonder with Lovecraftian overtones and an obsessive emphasis on madness.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Some of each. Marebito is all about the man who did not know fear (and so went out to seek it), so its main focus is on creepiness. But there's also blood-slurping and eye-gouging.
Ignore: Needs for a linear, rational plot. It's madness, madness I tell you!
5. Storm of the Century (1993).
Premise: A scary stranger with superpowers drops in on a little Maine island-village during a terrible snow storm.
Execution: This quiet miniseries about the slow but sure unraveling of a community features intriguing characters and cryptomania.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror and horror. Stephen King lives up to his own standards here. From "give me what I want and I'll go away" to "I'm a little teapot," this is all about making everyday things ominous markers of doom.
Ignore: The fact that it's a miniseries.
6. The Hills Have Eyes (2006).
Premise: Nice vacationing family gets attacked by evil mutant family in the nuclear test sites of New Mexico.
Execution: Too smart and self-aware to be dismissed as torture porn, it never wobbles from brutal honesty into sadism.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Horror and grossout. It is extremely violent and bloody. The throbbing, excellent score lends it real suspense, while the test site setting makes for some damn disturbing imagery.
Ignore: The crap-tastic sequel.
7. Silent Hill (2006).
Premise: A woman takes her adopted daughter to her haunted birth place of Silent Hill. Chaos ensues.
Execution: An angry maze of a plot punctuated by religious commentary and truly horrific imagery.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Some of each. You're never safe in Silent Hill, but the grotesque monsters of "hell level" aside, the real horror of this little mining town is what its denizens will do to an outcast.
Ignore: The fact that it's based off a video game. And some of the cheese.
8. The Descent (2005).
Premise: A group of spelunker chicks get stuck in an unknown cave system filled with humanoid monsters.
Execution: Much more than the average final girl slasher. It's convincing characters in a microcosmic, stifling crisis situation.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Some of each, but it's heavy on the grossout. There are literally pools of blood. However, this is not a movie that ever lets up on the terror, and let's face it, nobody wants to be stuck in an unknown cave system to begin with. Let alone with monsters.
Ignore: The occasional histrionic bitchiness of the characters. And your claustrophobia.
9. Red Dragon (2002).
Premise: The FBI hunts a tortured serial killer that annihilates families on the way to Becoming a Great Red Dragon.
Execution: A genuinely human (and almost religious) exploration of our depths and peaks. Also, very strong acting.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Horror and some grossout. There's a great scene where the Red Dragon is "revealing himself" to a reporter, saying, "Do you see? Do you see?" and the reporter's just like, "Ah, fuck me." That is the audience's reaction too.
Ignore: The lack of Jodie Foster and the minimal focus on Hannibal Lecter.
10. Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht / Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979).
Premise: Dracula follows an Englishman home and unleashes a plague of madness and death.
Execution: This is Werner Herzog does Dracula, which is really all I have to say, because Werner Herzog is GOD.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror and horror. This is the most atmospheric version of Dracula in existence - it's so atmospheric it's more of a meditation, but what a glorious meditation it is. Werner Herzog knows how to portray madness and isolation better than anyone.
Ignore: The eventual unfaithfulness to the book.
1. Kairo / Pulse (2001).
Premise: The dead are coming in through the internet to take life from the living - first Tokyo, then the world.
Execution: A sensitive and profound movie about isolation, social destruction, and life itself.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror with some horror. This is an atmospheric movie, but there are a few genuinely disturbing scenes involving ghosts, corpse marks, and suicides - and computers that turn on by themselves. Believe me, in this movie, this is scary.
Ignore: The horrible American remake.
2. El Espinazo Del Diablo / The Devil's Backbone (2001).
Premise: During the Spanish Civil War an isolated boys' boarding school is tormented by The One Who Sighs.
Execution: Politically and emotionally rich with a strong plot and macabre symbolism galore. Far superior to Pan's Labyrinth.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror and horror. There's a lot of suspense but the ghost encounters, especially in the beginning, are very scary indeed. A bit of grossout if you count the deformed fetuses in jars and all the blood.
Ignore: The occasionally off CG and slightly sentimental vibe.
3. 28 Days Later (2002).
Premise: Most of England has either been eaten or Infected. The survivors look for other survivors and try to save their souls.
Execution: What made this zombie movie groundbreaking was its use of digital video and a melancholy score.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Horror and grossout. London as a wasteland and the behavior of some humans are horrific, but the infection is passed through vomiting blood and eyes get gouged out.
Ignore: The hype. It's worth it.
4. Marebito / The Stranger From Afar (2004).
Premise: A creepy documentarian finds a feral girl in the tunnels beneath the subway. She's a little off.
Execution: Another digital video wonder with Lovecraftian overtones and an obsessive emphasis on madness.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Some of each. Marebito is all about the man who did not know fear (and so went out to seek it), so its main focus is on creepiness. But there's also blood-slurping and eye-gouging.
Ignore: Needs for a linear, rational plot. It's madness, madness I tell you!
5. Storm of the Century (1993).
Premise: A scary stranger with superpowers drops in on a little Maine island-village during a terrible snow storm.
Execution: This quiet miniseries about the slow but sure unraveling of a community features intriguing characters and cryptomania.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror and horror. Stephen King lives up to his own standards here. From "give me what I want and I'll go away" to "I'm a little teapot," this is all about making everyday things ominous markers of doom.
Ignore: The fact that it's a miniseries.
6. The Hills Have Eyes (2006).
Premise: Nice vacationing family gets attacked by evil mutant family in the nuclear test sites of New Mexico.
Execution: Too smart and self-aware to be dismissed as torture porn, it never wobbles from brutal honesty into sadism.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Horror and grossout. It is extremely violent and bloody. The throbbing, excellent score lends it real suspense, while the test site setting makes for some damn disturbing imagery.
Ignore: The crap-tastic sequel.
7. Silent Hill (2006).
Premise: A woman takes her adopted daughter to her haunted birth place of Silent Hill. Chaos ensues.
Execution: An angry maze of a plot punctuated by religious commentary and truly horrific imagery.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Some of each. You're never safe in Silent Hill, but the grotesque monsters of "hell level" aside, the real horror of this little mining town is what its denizens will do to an outcast.
Ignore: The fact that it's based off a video game. And some of the cheese.
8. The Descent (2005).
Premise: A group of spelunker chicks get stuck in an unknown cave system filled with humanoid monsters.
Execution: Much more than the average final girl slasher. It's convincing characters in a microcosmic, stifling crisis situation.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Some of each, but it's heavy on the grossout. There are literally pools of blood. However, this is not a movie that ever lets up on the terror, and let's face it, nobody wants to be stuck in an unknown cave system to begin with. Let alone with monsters.
Ignore: The occasional histrionic bitchiness of the characters. And your claustrophobia.
9. Red Dragon (2002).
Premise: The FBI hunts a tortured serial killer that annihilates families on the way to Becoming a Great Red Dragon.
Execution: A genuinely human (and almost religious) exploration of our depths and peaks. Also, very strong acting.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Horror and some grossout. There's a great scene where the Red Dragon is "revealing himself" to a reporter, saying, "Do you see? Do you see?" and the reporter's just like, "Ah, fuck me." That is the audience's reaction too.
Ignore: The lack of Jodie Foster and the minimal focus on Hannibal Lecter.
10. Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht / Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979).
Premise: Dracula follows an Englishman home and unleashes a plague of madness and death.
Execution: This is Werner Herzog does Dracula, which is really all I have to say, because Werner Herzog is GOD.
Terror / Horror / Grossout: Terror and horror. This is the most atmospheric version of Dracula in existence - it's so atmospheric it's more of a meditation, but what a glorious meditation it is. Werner Herzog knows how to portray madness and isolation better than anyone.
Ignore: The eventual unfaithfulness to the book.
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no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:03 am (UTC)yeah, well, regardless, the evil does a lot of gnawing and is involved with black holes.
oh, I'm sure I did want to kill you for it, and i still would now.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:14 am (UTC)hahaha.
it's still on my computer somewhere. ;)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 04:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 03:56 am (UTC)"In order to overcome the Kanashibari experience, one must overcome the fear that comes when your body is paralyzed. If you do that, then Japanese say that you can use the opportunity to communicate with the Kanashibari Spirits.
"Now that we know about Sleep Paralysis however, [... blah blah]. Even the ability to use Kanashibari to communicate with the spirits mirrors the way one can utilize Sleep Paralysis as a pathway to lucid dreaming."
Santiago was always a lucid dreamer. crazy shit.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-01 04:12 am (UTC)