What is "good horror"?

[arashi]

Woo! Horror movies, my favorite genre!!

As everyone else has mentioned, the original B&W the Haunting is one of the best horror movies of all time. Scared the wits out of me the first time I saw it, and that was only a few years ago. Had never seen anything like it. Fantastic movie. The remake was horrible. BEYOND horrible.

Halloween. The first one was great. The second one was okay, it took them until number 7 (H20) to make another good one. Sad to say there's another one coming out this summer. Put it to rest already!

When I lived in NJ (it was for approx 3 months) we had a creepy neighbor kid who used to stand in his backyard and look into ours, stock-still, not moving, dressed up like Michael Myers. Or he would stand in the windows of his house and watch us. There was something wrong with that boy.

Have always loved Vincent Price movies, along with Peter Cushing. My favorite Vincent Price movie is The Haunted Palace. You think NODS is based on Rebecca? It's more like 95% of this movie remade. Check it out.

Love the original Dracula. If you loose yourself in it it can be pretty spooky. Last fall I watched it every other day. The Wolfman too, if only because I love Lon Chaney. He was a terrific actor.

The remake of "House on Haunted Hill". Loved it. Scared the hell out of me. I don't do well with insane asylum stuff, freaks me out. I love Vincent Price but the original is damn annoying. Wanted to strangle that stupid woman who kept screaming. (Check out Session 9 if you can. Creepy and hella suspenseful). The remake of Thirteen Ghosts. I don't normally do gore, but these were fun movies, and the Jackal was damn freaky. (That insane asylum stuff again)!!

The Fog. Love John Carpenter's earlier works. Spooky pirate leper ghosts with a vendetta.

The Sixth Sense. Come on! Easily one of the best.

Stir of Echoes. Nothing like the book but an awesome movie! Kevin Bacon was so fine in that! ::snicker::

There's definitely more but this list is getting too long.

~Arashi

I think I may have just killed a man..... with cheese! Tony Peterson for America's Dairy Council.

[Cassandra]

For me it's the suspense & audio which makes the whole thing scary. As someone else pointed out here, sometimes it's what you don't see that makes you sit at the edge of your seat.

I remember being terrifed the first time I saw "Night of the Living Dead." It was done in black & white and the whole atmosphere seemed pretty scary. Just the thought of dead people "waking up" like that and roaming the earth like zombies really freaked me out!

A few years ago, I saw the strangest, freakiest movie I've ever seen in my life. It was called "Freaks" and it was supposidly banned in the U.S. and England. That movie totally scared the heck out of me.

I think the B & W movies are really the best for horror films.
I still get scared out of my wits every time I see the shower scene in Psycho. The audio in this was pretty scary and lent more suspense to the show than actually was.  The Haunting Of Hill House was like that too and so was the Exorcist. For me, those are really horror shows because just the music & sounds alone can leave you sitting on the edge of your seats terrified.

[arashi]

Oh! Night of the Living Dead! That was a great movie. It seemed to me to portray more what would *really* happen in real life if such events were to occur.

~Arashi

[Gerard]

Three other great films mentioned:  "Carnival of Souls"; "Freaks", and "Night of the Living Dead".  I had heard a great deal about "Carnival" and finally saw it - where else? - on the Sci-Fi Channel.  The only word I can describe for this cult classic's horror is "claustrophobic".  Regarding "Freaks", it can still - and will - shock today, particularly the climax.  For a 60-year-old film to do that, it tells you something about style.  "Night" is an example of where graphic horror DOES work, when combined with that "claustrophobia", as well as all other elements which make a film like that work so well:  believable characters; tight pacing; use of imagination (listening to the trapped survivors describe what they had seen); etc.  As an aside, I lived in Pittsburgh for several years; "Night" was filmed in locations around the city, locations I'm very familiar with, including the various towns and places mentioned on the bottom of the TV screen during the scenes of civil defense broadcast.  That really adds something to the movie for me.  And I also use to go shopping in the mall where the sequel "Day of the Dead" was shot.

Gerard

[Raineypark]

Gerard, you've brought up perhaps the MOST disturbing "horror" movie of all time.  

"Freaks" was produced just as the official censorship of films began...which means they did things no one would be allowed to do again for decades.  In this case, no one would DREAM of remaking this film but for reasons completely different than before.

Perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the story is that while it's absolutely a "horror" story, there is no 'supernatural' element what so ever.   All the characters are real human beings, and while the things that happen are hideous, they require nothing beyond human capabilities.  That's the horror of it....that people can be so cruel to one another.

I saw this film in a College course on censorship (a course open to Comm Arts majors only, requiring the viewing of a whole LIST of banned movies   )...is it even possible to get one's hands on the original version of "Freaks" anymore?  No....don't send me any web sites...one viewing of it was enough for me!

Raineypark

[Gerard]

Don't quote me, Raineypark, but I do think it is available on tape (maybe even DVD by now).  I actually saw it for the first time on AMC (it's been aired there several times).  It is so dang, garn creepy.  We should do an internet check to see if the video is listed anywhere, if it is on video at all.

Gerard
PS - Even now I'm getting shivers just thinking of that ending.

[Gerard]

"Freaks" IS on video, Raineypark!  I just checked.  Amazon.com has it, and it's even on sale.

Gerard

[Raineypark]

Some time last year, I found a coffee table type book about the career of Tod Browning....with LOTS of photos. I picked it up and opened it randomly.....and  almost dropped the damned thing on the Borders Books floor!!  I'd swear even the PRINT looked demented ...never mind the pictures!

So thanks for finding it, Gerard, but as I said, one viewing of "Freaks" was enough for me.

By the way.....I'd be amazed if the version shown on AMC was uncut from the original.  Do you know?

Raineypark

[Luciaphile]

By the way.....I'd be amazed if the version shown on AMC was uncut from the original.  Do you know?

It's scheduled to be aired on TCM on August 30, 11:15PM so maybe you can save your pennies.

IIRC, Browning used actual circus freaks for the film.  There's a great interview with Olga Baclanova who starred in the film in John Kobal's "People Will Talk" and I know she discusses the experience in that.

Luciaphil

[jennifer]

It's interesting you should mention "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", Mark, because I was just thinking of it while reading about slasher films in other responses to this topic.  I saw it for the first time two summers ago, and rewatched it with my friends this past spring.  It's the most recent film that has scared me consistently throughout, and you're right:  that sense of dread that permeates the entire film is palpable.  "TCM" is one exception to the "slasher films aren't generally scary" rule.

I'm a big fan of old ghost movies in general:  "The Innocents" and "The Uninvited" are two examples.  As far as other ghoulies, ghosties, and long-legged beasties, werewolves hold the title.  Vampires, I've always thought, are sexy as hell, but werewolves are just plain terrifying, mostly cuz they just wanna eat you.  When I was 7 or 8 I was mesmerized by "American Werewolf in London" and "Silver Bullet", both which scared the living hell out of me.  They still do.  Werewolves, man ... brrrrrr.

Nicky

PS -- Luciaphil darling ... good point re: Stephen King in Danse Macabre.  I love the man and adore 85 percent of his work (and I really can't say a bad word about him; when I was in 2nd grade, the man sent me an autographed copy of "Cycle of the Werewolf" with the script included, knowing full well I was a 7 year old kid in MT, so I think I owe him considerably), but you're right ... he points out how scary it is not to rip the door off, and then promptly rips the door off every friggin' time.  Go figure.

nicky SK gave books (not horror of course)
to all the kindergarden kids in maine (at least in Portland)and when she mentioned her cousin(me)
was a big fan he gave two for my kids too! What a guy!

jennifer

[Gerard]

Some time last year, I found a coffee table type book about the career of Tod Browning....with LOTS of photos. I picked it up and opened it randomly.....and  almost dropped the damned thing on the Borders Books floor!!  I'd swear even the PRINT looked demented ...never mind the pictures!

So thanks for finding it, Gerard, but as I said, one viewing of "Freaks" was enough for me.

By the way.....I'd be amazed if the version shown on AMC was uncut from the original.  Do you know?

Raineypark

It was totally uncensored.  Every scene I read about before seeing it on AMC was there, plus the AMC host said something some like "and now, in its entirety...."  He had stated how the film was banned for decades, and even when it was finally allowed to be shown in certain places, various scenes were censored.

Gerard

[CastleBee]

My thoughts on this have been well expressed by many others on the board already.  But I can't resist the topic so here are my 2 cents worth.  In order for something to qualify as good horror to me the book, film or TV show must be¢â‚¬¦

Subtle, take its time and draw me in slowly through every day unspectacular events first.  This makes me feel as though what's coming is not only plausible but also very possible. Stephen King is a master at this I think.  Dark Shadows was better at it in the beginning than later on when they got more involved in some of the tangled plotlines.  It would have been good to see more of the everyday mundane events (eating, house cleaning, even (gasp) watching TV) going on in the midst of the kooky stuff.

Definitely more psychological than physical.  I'm going to be scared on a much deeper level if the writer can get into my head and allow me to take part in some of the unseen imagery.  Once again that's why the old telephone is one of the scariest props DS ever employed on the show.  And this point is also where most of the newer films have lost me¢â‚¬¦slasher stuff is more like a line up at a slaughterhouse than anything else. A parade of fake gore.  Just because a special effect can be done is no reason it always should be.

Slower in pace and more involved than most new films tend to be.  I like various levels something going on over here, over there as well as a chance to see some character development and tie the various elements together.  All that takes a little time to do well IMHO.  I feel that Victor Hugo did a brilliant job doing this overall - especially in the Hunchback of Notre Dame.   The slasher genre seems to only exist in order to show you a living body with no apparent personality, a psychopath with even less and then proceed to cause the live person to be a dead one. The end. BORING!

And yes, yes, YESSSS¢â‚¬¦I love all the trappings the big old house, the dark stormy night, beautiful costumes, atmospheric music, a little tragic love interest thrown in to give it more flavor.  And when I'm lucky enough to stumble across something with all those elements it will have my life-long interest and loyalty. So, thank you Dan Curtis and company!!!

P.S. To those who loved "The Others" - I heartily agree! I've rented so many clunkers lately that this was a really pleasant surprise (in more ways than one!)

.

[Raineypark]

It was totally uncensored.  Every scene I read about before seeing it on AMC was there, plus the AMC host said something some like "and now, in its entirety...."  He had stated how the film was banned for decades, and even when it was finally allowed to be shown in certain places, various scenes were censored.

Gerard

Okay Gerard....consider me completely amazed.  I would not have thought it possible.  And you are correct, Luciaphil, the "freaks" were real side-show "oddities"....which is part of what makes it such a brilliant (albeit horrific)  film.

Raineypark

[Cassandra]

Three other great films mentioned:  "Carnival of Souls"; "Freaks", and "Night of the Living Dead".  Regarding "Freaks", it can still - and will - shock today, particularly the climax.  For a 60-year-old film to do that, it tells you something about style.  

Gerard

Gerad, when I first posted about the movie "Freaks" I almost thought I was the only one who had seen this. It was good to see that I wasn't going out of my mind and that someone else had seen it too. I wasn't really sure if it could be classified . . as "horror' or not,  but to me,  it certainly was.
Gerad, I had seen it awhile back and was really horrified on what I saw there. What amazed me the most was how dedicated these poor souls were. I had to give them alot of credit for acting in a movie the way they did. IMO, I also felt that there was  kind of an "undercurrent" towards the message here, especially regarding the shocking ending.  To this day, I still can't get some of those images out of my mind.

[Cassandra]

It was totally uncensored.  Every scene I read about before seeing it on AMC was there, plus the AMC host said something some like "and now, in its entirety...."  He had stated how the film was banned for decades, and even when it was finally allowed to be shown in certain places, various scenes were censored.

Gerard

Gerard, I believe you're right about that. I had also read that it was uncensored. I too also had viewed it on AMC years ago. I had taped it, although I don't know why, since I only viewed it once and want to keep it that way.  I still feel that those poor people were truly amazing on what they accompolished in life, despite their handicapps. There is that one image I still can't get out of my mind and don't think I ever will. That is the one of the man lying on the ground, lighting his own cigarette. To this day, when I think of that one, I shiver all over.