21st century horror, your top picks ?

[snyprrr]

"No man, 'Shutter Island' is the best Horror Film,... ever!"

                                           Martin Scorsese

[escher]

Never heard of them. Will do the Google thing later.

Those two are not masterpieces anyway (I don't know if I would call masterpiece any horror in the new century), just two other titles I've enjoyed.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

a great love letter to the '50s, yes!!

Good way to describe it, Snipes!  Sure keeps me up most nights, laughing...

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I just watched Cabin in the Woods a few days ago and didn't like it .. it was all nudge & wink and little else.

Sorry 'bout that, James - wish you liked it better.  I understand the impediment; but that's the mechanism of satire whether Voltaire, Swift or Whedon.  And unlike the first two, Whedon's Cabin is not above self-mockery.  Did you see the resemblance of the blood maze machinery to the Lion's Gate entertainment company's standard opening?  That took some chutzpah if nuthin' else.  This dude, annoying as he is, gets it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzkTNsb3tj8

[snyprrr]

Sorry 'bout that, James - wish you liked it better.  I understand the impediment; but that's the mechanism of satire whether Voltaire, Swift or Whedon.  And unlike the first two, Whedon's Cabin is not above self-mockery.  Did you see the resemblance of the blood maze machinery to the Lion's Gate entertainment company's standard opening?  That took some chutzpah if nuthin' else.  This dude, annoying as he is, gets it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzkTNsb3tj8

Awesometacular?





So, back the Haters. Are you saying 'Antikrist' is NOT a Horror Film?








Also, can we all just agree that ANY reboot that we've had,...mm,... since Coppola's Dracula (two... two??... 'Carries'?)... is not going to be mentioned in this Thread, right? From 'Fright Night' to 'Texas CSM'... right?... everything is crap?? Right? Everything???

Haley's 'Nightmare on Elm St.' tried really hard, and just failed. etc etc etc










Why is 'Inception' not a Horror Film? Don't ask really stupid questions










There is this Duality- in the Giallo genre, there is the 'Cop' part of it, and the 'Killer' part. The more of the 'Cop' part that you show, it becomes a "Crime Thriller", the more of the "Killer" part you show, it becomes a "Horror Thriller"? 'Silence of the Lambs'...

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I warned ya' he was going to annoy...

A suggest for the list, an unforgettable film I forgot to mention!  :

Brand Upon the Brain

[asin]B0019X4008[/asin]

[Linus]

I think:

The Others (2001) is quite clever (not just for the ending). And atmospheric. (Kidman is a little too hysterical, however.)

The Orphanage (2007) is so sad. Not very scary, but there's nice tension.

Antichrist (2009) has some really powerful moments and depicts depression really well once you've figured it out. Way too bitter though.

The Last Exorcism (2010) (not in poll list) is the best documentary-style horror film I've seen. Crap ending, but otherwise surprisingly good.

[Linus]

Me, I'm totally not into what Horror has become. If one film does something cool (the ghost from 'The Ring' or 'The Grudge'), then eeeveryone is using that technique. Not saying it hasn't happened before, but it's just not working for me anymore. CGI killed it ALL. Remember the ;80s 'The Thing'- real special effects?

Totally agree.

I don't care if masks, make-up or dolls look obviously fake, they still feel more alive than their CGI equivalents.

[ibanezmonster]

Just now looking at the list and realized I haven't seen any of those movies in their entirety.

I guess the problem I have with movies in general is that 2 hours is just not enough time to tell a story. 4 hours is really the bare minimum. It's like if Mahler chopped his symphonies down to no more than 40 minutes each.

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

Hey, James!  Note that Cabin in the Woods is leading the pack!  Critical acclaim is mine - mwwhaahaahaaa!    

Sincere apologies for the outburst above - it's the witching season.  Seriously, does the low voter turnout here indicate lack of interest in this genre among classical music fans, what d'ya' think? Also, what are your favorite five horror films from silents up to sixties?

[ZauberdrachenNr.7]

I wouldn't consider myself a maven of the genre .. just started the thread because tis the season and I have been exploring more recent movies lately and getting a kick out of them. The list I generated is mostly from online critical consensus and stuff. From the earlier stuff I have seen .. nosferatu, the universal monster pictures, king kong, invasion of the body snatchers, and especially psycho.

Your list might be mine own.  Can recommend Dreyer's Vampyr if you haven't seen it.  Also, the Jacques Tourneur B films - well-crafted, atmospheric and haunting.

[snyprrr]

I wouldn't consider myself a maven of the genre .. just started the thread because tis the season and I have been exploring more recent movies lately and getting a kick out of them. The list I generated is mostly from online critical consensus and stuff. From the earlier stuff I have seen .. nosferatu, the universal monster pictures, king kong, invasion of the body snatchers, and especially psycho.

Yes, you NEED to see 'Vampyr'. 'White Zombie'.

[ibanezmonster]

This is clearly "your problem" .. because since the arts inception .. there are more than enough films at 2 hrs or less that effectively tell a story.

You can tell a story, sure, though not anything truly epic in scope. Stuff like character development suffers as well. How well can you really know a character in 2 hours? Trilogies and such aren't common, but they have the advantage of at least offering more character screen time and greater sense of immersion in its world.

But if you're looking for a quick experience that can last in one sitting, movies are the way to go...

[escher]

Also, what are your favorite five horror films from silents up to sixties?

Considering the sixties included?

The innocents (Jack Clayton) my personal favorite
Vampyr (Dreyer)
The haunting (Wise)
Repulsion (Polanski)
Night of the Demon (Tourneur)
Carnival of souls (Harvey)
Psycho (Hitchcock)
The birds (Hitchcock)
The tell tale heart (a great UPA animated cartoon)
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Mamoulian)
The Spiral Staircase (Siodmak) more a thriller than a horror, but I guess it could be mentioned
Les diaboliques (Clouzot) ditto
Invasion of the body snatchers (Siegel)
Peeping Tom (Powell)
Village of the Damned (Rilla)
An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Enrico)
Black Sabbath, but only the last episode (Bava)
Blood and black lace (Bava) this one actually not a great movie at all, but visually it's a masterpiece worth of the best works of the greatest directors
Kill Baby Kill! (Bava) the inspiration for a detail on the last episode of Twin Peaks
Kwaidan (Kobayashi)
Witchfinder General (Reeves)

[escher]

I didn't see that! And I've not mentioned Night of the living dead   
Just five:
The innocents
Vampyr
Carnival of souls
Repulsion
Night of the living dead

What about the seventies? To me it's probably the golden age for the horror movies.

[mc ukrneal]

Seriously, does the low voter turnout here indicate lack of interest in this genre among classical music fans, what d'ya' think? Also, what are your favorite five horror films from silents up to sixties?

The problem, for me, is that of the movies I have seen, all are pretty bad. So I have not voted.

[escher]

Escher .. what are your favorites from this century?

I've really liked the first Insidious, probably for many it's just another "haunted house" (or "haunted something") movie, but I've found the second part very effective. I've liked also the first Saw and Conjuring, James Wan is certainly not a genius but he's a good artisan.
The descent is another title that I liked, and I'm one of those who have voted for Cabin in the woods, the funniest horror I've seen after Army of darkness.
The other title I've voted is REC, certainly not a great work reasoning as a cinephile but sometimes I just want to see the scary movie.
I like also other movies in the list, like Eden lake (a modern Deliverance), The house of the devil (pure retromania) Ichi the killer, Cloverfield, American Psycho (but it's a bit strange to see those three titles as "horror movies", well maybe Cloverfield), and also other titles in and outside the list, but considering that I'm an horror fan I'm reliable as someone addicted to junk food talking of McDonald's.
But I have to add that if I had to make the list of my favorite horror movies ever, I don't know if I would put any of those titles in it.

[ibanezmonster]

Greg you're clearly talking out of your ass. Have you really explored film history, all of those great films .. to make such naive pronouncements? There are so many films since the arts inception that development a character very strongly & memorably. Ditto present an epic tale.

Yeah, I've seen a few films considered great and have enjoyed them. But imagine how much more epic many films would be if they had 6 hours instead of 2 hours. Some genres could benefit from the extra time (horror, though, probably isn't one of them). Imagine if Wagner wrote operas that are a third as long as they really are.

[Karl Henning]

I've only seen two of these;  and the only one of those two I'd watch again is Shaun of the Dead.

[ibanezmonster]

Fact is, many films throughout the history of the medium are great at 2 hours though (or less), you simply don't know what your talking about ..

That's not even my point. Plenty of movies are great at 2 hours, but there can often be more potential if more time were given.