News|Movies|BD & DVD|Writings|Other

I didn't think it was scary. I thought it was a piece of shit.

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 2:02 PM)

So what scares you?

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 4:01 PM)

I absolutely relate to you. I love horror movies and watch a whole lot of them, but almost never am I scared of them. There are three exceptions however and not only do I find them scary (although "creepy that stays with you" might be a better way of putting it), but I consider them to be great films as well: The Blair Witch Project (Paranormal Activity hijacked the idea out of laziness, like you point out, I'm sure, but the Blair Witch Project was not lazy at all in its approach with the perfect level of history and off-putting legend woven into the background, and realistic terror with only the subtlest hints of the supernatural. There's something so scary to me about walking all day in one direction and ending up in the same spot you started at. And the, in my opinion, great performances helped too. I couldn't help but be scared for them), Session 9 (Just a genuinely disturbing film. I felt like I left the movie with something dirty on me), and the Japanese version of Dark Water (which has one of my favorite shocks of all time). But so-called scary movies never really have the affect on me that they seem to on other people. I'm jealous, actually.

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 6:00 PM)

I have a similar "problem", but there are some choice horror films that can give me the shivers. Of the ones mentioned by you, "The Shining", "Rosemary's Baby" and "Blair Witch Project" actually scared (or at least disturbed) me. Other ones I can think of right now are "The Tenant", "Candyman" and "Lost Highway". But it's true: I love a lot of horror movies, but most of them just can't scare me. I don't necessarily consider this a drawback though.

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 7:32 PM)

And in fact, Blair witch is a copy of Cannibal Holocaust regarding the script..........

Like you Whimsy I am not scared by horror films either, ecxept some old good ones like The Changeling(1980) etc, those films give me the creeps.

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 7:58 PM)

Generally speaking horror films don't scare me, i love all those films you mentioned and the horror genre is my favourite but i don't usually get scared by any horror films.

The last horror film to give me some chills was The Exorcism Of Emily Rose but that's because i watched it alone and late at night in complete darkness.

Do you watch alone. ?

I think horror is more effective if you watch it on your own and preferably at night in the darkness.

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 9:04 PM)

I agree - the only thing that the PA movies have going for them is a heightened sense of tension. I don't feel they are going to be remembered in 20 years time.

The first time I watched The Exorcist, alone and in broad daylight, when I was 14 or 15 years old, it scared the hell of out me.

Some movies definitely unnerve me, but don't "scare" me.
I don't consider jump scares a true scare.

One non Horror movie moment that creeps me out big time is the old homeless lady from Mulholland Drive.

(Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 at 10:52 PM)

Trust me, you're not alone in that opinion. Paranormal Activity was crap. Its probably the weakest way of measurement to figure out if you're not scared enough of horror movies.

Me personally, horror movies sometime scare me but its rare and seems like it happened more when i was younger. I dont consider jump scares as being valid scares either. Movies that rely on them too much are lame.

Crepy movies arent really scary to me either, but i really like them nonetheless.

Last movie i saw that seemed really creepy to me was Martyrs.

(Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 1:34 AM)

It should be no surprise to you that I'm that way. I never watch horror movies to be scared. There are some that I watch for atmosphere, for the characters, or some I watch as outright comedies whether the humour is intentional or not. I wouldn't say that I could take or leave the horror elements. They definitely add to the movies.

A TALE OF TWO SISTERS to me feels way more like a heartbreaking psychological drama than a horror movie. Instead of the elements of horror terrifying me, they work as magic realism instead.

Certain horror movies, especially ones about serial killers tend to be more about relating killing to everyday activities, in HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, murder's a good time and a bonding mechanism for two friends. In HANNIBAL, it's a craft.

Horror elements in movies also just seem to be interesting feats of exercising the imagination. But again, never about getting scared.

And yeah, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY seems to be made for a certain crowd, people who are more into sensationalism than substance. I heard somebody once compare it to a porno. Its structure is daytime, night scene (scare), daytime, night scene (scare). And no real development.

(Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 4:38 AM)

To be honest, I think it's you.

Lots of people retain odd fears and superstitions into later life (I'm unnerved by the supernatural), and those tend to inform their reaction to horror films. If you're more practical and analytical than that (and judging by the forensic analysis of transfers/compression rates etc that's often the focus of your reviews, I'm guessing probably are - this is not a criticism) you won't have many of those fears lingering.

(Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 9:18 AM)

I'd have to say the only film that's really scared me/creeped me out as an adult is the Japanese film "Audition". Towards the end the film has a very sinister vibe.
I suppose it resonates as its something that is perfectly feasible, as opposed to some films that have an almost cartoon-ish monster.

Saying all that though, I'm not immune to the jump out of your skin moments when they come out of nowhere.

(Posted on Saturday, November 13, 2010 at 8:35 PM)

I think true horror fans don't experience fear from horror but revel in the atmosphere.

(Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 9:03 AM)

I haven't, to my knowledge, watched a single horror film as an adult that's scared me. Some have shocked me ('wow, I wasn't expecting that'), some have revolted me (ethically, viscerally, etc), but none have scared me.

Only one film has given me slight unease (for literally five minutes) after going to bed, and that's Mario Bava's Shock.

(Posted on Sunday, November 14, 2010 at 1:15 PM)

I can't remember being legitimately "scared" by a horror film after the age of around 6. I sat on my father's knee watching Creepshow and The Toxic Avenger, always finding the over the top splatter fests fun rather than terrifying. I had much the same reaction to Freddy and Jason during my tweens, and developed into a full-blown junkie for the genre once I discovered splat-stick gems like Evil Dead 2, Re-Animator, and Braindead (or "Dead Alive" here in the states). These films offered a level of excitement and attraction that nothing else on the planet seem to give me, and - alongside decent Japanese animation - remain perhaps life's greatest pleasure.

Notice I didn't start that last statement with "Guilty"... no, I make no apologies for my love affair with the macabre. Not even the crap - and there's plenty of crap here. Never have, and I hope someone smacks me in the face if I ever do. Martyrs has had a much more profound effect on my life than Citizen Kane ever could, and if that makes me a trashy gorehound without an ounce of taste, well, so be it. I know what I like, and I like films that terrorize, disgust, and abuse the audience. Mind you I like all kinds of movies besides horror, too - the quality of the film will have as much of an impact on me as the genre its' in. Horror films are exciting, a visceral reaction to images and sounds you know can't really hurt you. Honestly, the notion that a film can scare of terrify someone is something I couldn't wrap my brain around until a few years ago... a short story, if I may?

My wife has put up with my addiction since she met me, and I thank her for that. She started watching crappy zombie films and horrible exploitation films with me in bed as she fell asleep, and over the years her reaction changed from "Gross! I'm going to bed." to "This is stupid. Ugh, that's so fake... Good night." I dragged her to two Saw movies, plenty of remakes both good and bad, and after all this time she was just as interested in seeing The Human Centipede as I was. (You have NO IDEA how much easier this fact makes my entire life.)

She'll ofter grab her Nintento DS and idly play Harvest Moon while I watched the more gristly films, but she's paying plenty of attention none the less. She's grown to see the humor and excitement in these films, I think, in a very similar light that I have...

...and yet we weren't an hour into The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, just few years ago, and she asked me to turn it off*. She could sit through any Stuart Gordon or Sam Raimi splatterfest I threw at her without wincing, and finds spooky fare like The Orphanage and Audition to be utterrly fascinating. But something about watching a large mentally disabled man with a power tool chasing a screaming girl through the Texas brush for 5 minutes straight was the absolute limit. I was confused, but agreed, and turned the DVD off.

That deep sense of satisfaction that I get from watching America's most successful experiment in horror of the decade? That warm, tingly feeling I get every time Marilyn Burns' tears her vocal cords as a family of the deranged howls and jeers at her? That feeling is my body, my psyche, perhaps even my soul wallowing in pure, undiluted cinematic horror. To my wife, that imagery is still deeply scary... but to me, it's a drug unlike any other. It's a need buried deep inside, one that must be fed every now and again or grows increasingly frustrated. It isn't quite the same need that may be buried inside of you, but its' a constant feeling that I think all genuine genre fans share, on some level.

You can see past lame jump scares and construction BS situations to know what true tension and revulsion are - and that's why films like the above bore the snot out of you. Michael, you too have an addiction, and PG-13 "terror films" like this are meant to placate the uneducated pallets' of stupid middle-American teenagers and pretentious critics who don't have the balls or sense to know what a decent exercise in horror really is. You're a gourmet being handed a McDonalds hamburger and told its' filet mignon, and you have every right to feel nothing. If its' anything like The Blair Witch Project, I already don't give a damn... morbid curiosity may push me over the edge someday, but this season I saturated myself with a number of horror movies, fast approaching a dozen in one months' time.

Paranormal Activity wasn't even in the running.

Don't expect to be scared, ever, because you don't feel horror the way you think you should. That's okay. You are not alone in feeling this way.

*She had an even stronger reaction to David Cronenberg's Crash, literally grabbing her keys and bolting out of the room. That wasn't fear, exactly. That was... that was something else entirely.

(Posted on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 4:48 AM)