It's a Horror to Know You: Luki8701!
1. What is the first film that ever scared you?
The Thing. My mom used to borrow VHS tapes from her friend at work and she had a thing for horror movies (thanks mom!) so I was exposed to them from an early age. To this day I remember when I was 5 or 6, sitting in our living room playing with toys while my mom watched this masterpiece. It sure was an experience and while I did not pay attention to the screen the music itself haunted me for days. One time I did manage to gather enough courage to take a look it was during the infamous resuscitation scene. The chest collapsed, mayhem ensued and I ran out of the living room scared out of my mind. I didn't sleep well that night though and my love for horror movies was born.
2. What is the last film that scared you?
Eden Lake. Talk about punch in the guts. I wish I could say I knew what I was getting into, but I didn't expect it to have such a big inpact on my sleeping habits. I have a thing for Brittish horror and I imported my copy of Eden Lake as soon as possible. James Watkins wrote the underrated My Little Eye so my expectations were high…and they were met before Watkins punched me in the face repeatedly and kicked me in the groin. And I enjoyed every single moment of it. Eden Lake is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre of this century and, while a little bit contrived, the ending will propably stay with me for the rest of my life.
3. Name three Horror movies that you believe are underrated.
Only 3? That might be hard but fine…
Alien 3. I don't get the hate for this movie, I really don't. Be it the Theatrical version or the Assembly Cut, this movie is propably the best horror sequel I have ever seen. Sure, it has it's problems but what movie doesn't? It's a dark, depressing descent into nightmare and a perfect ending to the series (or it would have been if Resurection did not follow 5 years later). It's a movie about redemption and closure and it never fails to make me feel emotional and, yes, even a little bit scared.
Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh. The first Candyman, to me, represents one of the most perfect horror movies ever made. Every single thing in it just works and comes together to form one of my favourite movies of all time. But the sequel ain't bad either! While the story retcons quite a bit of the original, it is just as compelling and strangely haunting. The cast is excellent too (Veronica Cartwright!) and Phillip Glass returns with his amazing score.
Silent Hill. Silent Hill may not work all the time, but when it does it roars and screams and sends shivers down my spine. It suffers from uneven script filled with clumsy dialogue and overt symbolism but boy if there ever was a movie made in the last 22 years where it didn't really matter it was this one. An extremely atmospheric and cinematic video game adaptation that might sumble just as often as it jumps, but boy does it jump high! It also has horror friendly Radha Mitchell (Rogue, Pitch Black, The Crazies remake!) and Laurie Holden (The X Files, The Mist, The Walking Dead). The long overdue sequel will be out this October, directed by Michael J. Bassett, who directed a bunch of underrated horror movies of his own (Deathwatch and The Wilderness).
I would also like to mention The Skeleton Key, Session 9, Black Water, Lake Placid and several dozens of other movies that deserve to be mentioned!
4. Name three horror movies that you enjoy against your better judgment.
House of Wax. (The Paris hilton one!) I just love this movie. It should be a complete failure but somehow it works. Jaume Collet-Serra brings enough style and suspense to the proceedings and milks the sets and setpieces as much as possible. Even the deemed-to-be-annoying WB cast is perfectly capable of pulling their characters off (and hey the movie has almost an hour of some basic character development! There isn't even the studio required opening death scene to kick start the movie!), aside from Paris Hilton who makes up for it with her over the top deathscene.
Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows. I worship the original movie. It holds a very special place in my heart and caused quite a bit of uneasy discussions while camping in the woods. The sequel was heavily recut and reshot by the studio who also forced their ways on the director. The main cast is mostly annoying and strangely compelling at the same time. What makes this movie almost work is the twist and several sequences (mainly the hallucinations all the characters suffer from), but it could have been so much more.
Anaconda. Cheesy, unrealistic and with some truly terrible CGI. But I can watch this anytime and always have a good time. I wouldn't call it a bad movie though. It certainly doesn't take itself too seriously and the cast is fun (especially Jon Voight). I certainly enjoy this more than any of the "intentionaly" so-bad-it's-good animal amok flicks The Asylum/Syfy flood the world with. It ain't Jaws or Lake Placid, but it sure is fun.
5. Send us to five places on the Internet!
The Flesh Farm – Lots of enjoyable write ups about horror movies, both good and the bad.
Contamination – Not often updated, but lots of entertaining reading.
Retro Slashers – the name says it all.
Bleeding Skull – plenty of great reads about obscure/cult horror movies.
Cult Laboratories – great forums for fans of the cult cinema.
Damn, majority of movies I mentioned are from 90s… didn't even realize that :). I also apologize for some grammar mistakes/ typos since English is not my native language.
Also nice to see the alternate opening to the HoW remake, I say they cut it out for a good reason :).
Yeah, the "Silent Hill" film was way better than it should have been. The video game franchise is notable for its great atmosphere, convoluted plots and absurd endings. The film gave us good atmosphere and a plot and ending that actually kind of made sense! Plus, it has a full-body-skin-ripping-off scene that cannot be topped.
I think that I regard "Eden Lake" differently than most people. For me this is a film about a couple, bored with life, who have become deeply suicidal and struck upon the idea of essentially forcing some hoodlums to kill them. How else can I explain their calculated attempts to infuriate the hoodies, their refusal to easily escape at almost any time and their insistence on running as hard and fast as possible right into the middle of deadly danger? I'm convinced that if this film was presented from the perspective of the hoodies, it would strike a tone remarkably similar to "Tucker and Dale vs. Evil".
Luki8701, I can really relate to this IAHTKY!
I found EDEN LAKE (especially the ending) devastating. It's just so dismal and makes you feel so powerless. It hits an uncomfortable nerve that most horror movies are afraid to. You expect the usual cathartic victory and get a door slammed in your face instead (literally).
I feel ya on the Alien3 front too. I'm not loving the death of Hicks and Newt but again, horror is not about making everybody feel good. I love Ripley's sacrifice and her "Crud" speech says it all.
Radha Mitchell can do no wrong in my book. Love her in all those horror flicks you listed. There's another one called "When strangers appear" that I really liked too.
And I wasn't crazy for House of Wax when I first saw it but now I am. I think I had a hard time believing the set up the first time but now I just go with it. The production design is amazing and it's really more of a Tourist Trap remake than anything else.
Chuckles,
Hahaha! I like your EDEN LAKE Tucker vs Dale idea! I know the characters in EDEN do exactly the wrong things but I have this deep fear that so would I that scares the crap out of me when I watch a movie like that. It's like if I see somebody who is obviously a potential murderer coming towards me on the street my first instinct is to cross the street but this other voice makes me roll the dice and walk past them. So far I have not been murdered but I wish I'd just listen to the first voice that tells me to cross the street in the first place.
EDEN is definitely a polarizing movie though. I have a few friends with no patience for it but I like how it plays with infuriating the viewer.
I'm glad to see someone standing up (a bit) for Alien 3 and Blair Witch 2.
I think the third Alien movie gets a lot of grief just because it's not an action movie like Aliens was… but fuck those people.
The Blair Witch sequel worked for me… in as it went off on its own tangent and did not try to address the events of the original, that I thought was a good move. It has plenty of creepy stuff going on in the corners, some of which could indeed have done with a bit more development.
Yep BW2 has some issues but I always thought the scene where they watch the video and see themselves going black-out nuts was pretty horrifying.
It's like my fear of being caught on some wedding video dancing drunk but worse on account of they are killing people.
Or maybe being caught on tape doing the electric slide is worse than killing people. Who can say?