Horror Show

[RivkahChaya]

If the only Godzilla you have seen is the American release, with the scenes of Raymond Burr cut in, his voice-over narration, and some bad dubbing of the little dialogue there is, you really need to get a copy of the subtitled Japanese version, which was not released until about 12 years ago. It's titled "Gojira," which is a better transliteration of the monster's name.

It's not nearly as cheesy, and is actually very scary. You get to know the characters before they are annihilated-- they aren't just nameless figures in a story Raymond Burr is telling-- so your heart is in your throat. It doesn't matter that the monster is a guy in a rubber suit-- and if you do a little reading, apparently, it didn't matter to the original Japanese audiences, because there's a style of theater in Japan where the costumes are merely suggestive, and there's little realism. I'm not familiar with it, but people who are say that the godzilla costume, references this style, and the obvious fakeness of the villages he stomps on do as well, and also reference making little village scenes with ceramic buildings that is some kind of crafting hobby popular in Japan. So the movie is probably a lot scarier in Japan, and was even scarier in the 1950s, when there were Hiroshima survivors in the audience.

I can't recommend seeing the subtitled version more strongly.

[Magpie]

I saw Vault of Horror over the weekend. I'm not a huge fan of anthology movies, but the Brits generally make some of the best, with Amicus at the pinnacle.

[Beowulf]

Might be an interesting movie, especially with Bryan Cranston they might give it a better script than it has ever gotten. A friend of mine was totally addicted to Breaking Bad, she will likely love this news

Not much for campy, I prefer gothic settings, fogs, slow suspense, no gore, which ruins it for me, is the reason I either refuse to see a movie or turn a channel.

I saw for the first time on tv last year Dracula, Prince of darkness, the Hammer film with Christopher Lee, from 1966.

The way those people were presented as so trusting while meanwhile you had the impression they were sitting ducks with only one of them recognizing the situation was pretty chilling.

Old news I know, but it's surprising how many filmmakers these days miss out on the importance of subtlety.

[kensei]

Since I'm revisiting this thread, I thought I'd also take a departure from zombie discussion and mention a movie that's opening soon that has me very excited. Another horror icon is about to be given new life, debuting May 16th, and I'm talking about one of the BIGGEST of all time. The film stars Bryan Cranston, the star of "Breaking Bad" which has been hailed by critics as one of the best tv shows ever (and though I admit I've never seen it I did enjoy his comedic work on "Malcolm in the Middle" which was also excellent). I am talking about- drum roll please- GODZILLA!

When Godzilla first appeared in all those cheesy Japanese movies he was of course played by an actor in a big rubber suit who stomped around on miniature sets. It was a less sophisticated time, but that upright look- and his shrill, high-pitched shrieking roar- caught on with fans who loved the campiness of it. The last time Godzilla was rebooted was the universally panned Roland Emmerich film starring Matthew Broderick in which it was thought it would be cool to turn him into a sleek, streamlined, low-riding and fast-running T-Rex type creature. The big budget didn't help, and nor did the attempt at adding humor here and there because the jokes were just stupid. Godzilla fans hated it. Now, from what I've garnered of the new film, the monster has been returned to the upright stance that fans adore by British director Gareth Edwards, but the multi-million dollar budget insures he will look nothing like a man in a rubber suit. And the story seems to begin as a very well crafted drama about the lives of real people in a real setting, then explores what would happen if that reality were to suddenly have a 350-foot lizard attacking your city inserted into it.

In watching the trailers, I heard that old familiar high-pitched roar and I have to say I am just giddy with anticipation.

[kensei]

And by the way, since I'm mentioning "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" here on Casebook I should probably point out that the show's first episode featured Jack the Ripper as an immortal being responsible for murder sprees around the world throughout history.

[kensei]

Of all horror creatures that come from folklore and have been actually believed in by man there is probably none more changed by Hollywood than the zombie. In their original form they were not cannibals, weren't even violent most of the time but were usually brought back from the dead to be used as slave laborers, and the way to destroy them was not to inflict a devastating head injury as you now see in movies but to get them to swallow some salt. They also never looked half-decayed like the ones on "The Walking Dead" but were traditionally reanimated while still fresh and intact, a hollow dead stare and lack of speech being the only things to mark them as unusual.

Much has been written about how supposedly real zombies have only been frauds, people poisoned with a carefully calibrated dose of blowfish toxin that induces a comatose state nearly indistinguishable from death, then dug up by criminals passing themselves off as sorcerors and revived, hypnotized perhaps into being slaves and causing horror when people who knew them see their dead loved one returned to life. There is no doubt that this has occurred. IF there have ever been genuine supernaturally reanimated zombies, time would differentiate them from these fraudulent ones in that the frauds would continue to age while the real ones would not.

A very good fictional zombie story that appeared well after the "Night of the Living Dead" type had begun its reign but stuck largely to the original folklore was the second episode of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker" in 1974. In it, a feud between Haitian gangsters and Mafioso in Chicago resulted in the murder of a young Haitian who was then brought back as a zombie by his grandmother, a voodoo priestess, to exact revenge on the men that had killed him. He did look partially decomposed for shock effect, but he was not a cannibal, killing his targets by snapping their spines. It featured the correct method of zombie disposal, the force-feeding of salt.

[Scorpio]

Zombies: The Aunt Sally's Of Horror

All iconic horror creatures have a deep seated symbolic value if they are to endure the fickle tastes of the mass media. So where does the Zombie fit in ?
I consider the Zombie to be the most humble of beasts; they can hardly be romanticized like ghosts, and vampire's ( I cant see any shirtless Zombies running around in Twilight ); They have none of the Werewolves latent power ( i consider the hulk to be a werewolfesque, in that respect ); And they are rather mundane when compared to an Alien being.
The Zombie began as the hapless victims of a Voodoo sorcerers, and in Haitian folklore the sorcerers were the source of fear, not there unfortunate relatives pulled from there graves . Despite getting increasingly violent and appropriating the Ghoul's taste for human flesh, the zombie has retained its victim status. In modern mythology, due to the success of Romero's ' Dawn of the dead ', the Zombie has become the favorite of redknecks and gun freak's, who have found the perfect vessel for there power fantasies; The zombie has become like one of Tolkien's orc's, a thing you can kill without guilt or prohibition.
So what makes a Zombie scary?. I believe that the secret is found in the sociological aspect, rather like the serial killer mythology. The scariest part of Dawn of the dead, which is the best undead film made by far, comes early; the Zombie is not supernatural here, but a product of the Ghetto, a failure of society. The cannibal myth has been around for a long time; It is something that some historians believe was not an uncommon practice amongst primitive people in time's of want. Cannibalism is probably the worst act that we can imagine others, or ourselves, indulging in; It represents a person or society at its most degraded and destructive.
If anyone has there own thought's about the Zombie, or disagree with mine, lets hear you.

[Magpie]

Guillermo Tel Toro is filming a new horror movie in my hometown this summer
One of my friends has been hired as an extra. Should be interesting to see how that pans out.

[Robert]

Hi Steadmund

Yes, I am a Universal/Hammer/Amicus fan. Add in Night of the Demon and Dead of Night.

Anyone can make a horror film by having some Thing leap out and tear someone's head off.

[PC Fitzroy-Toye]

I watched the Keep a couple months back. I'd forgotten how good it was. It gets regularly trashed, but I think it holds up well.

The pity is that the author despised the adaption, which has delayed the filming of any of his other books

It a childhood favrite of mine found it creepy and moody on first viewing and every other time after that always liked the mood of it and the sound track, tangerine dream's a fav of mine anyhow, and I never understood why it gets poor reviews its got a fair script and acting great mood and sound plus a monolithic keep and an energy draining golem and his conjoined nemisis with weird eyes! whats not to like?

[Magpie]

Just seen "the Keep" again and even though its a dated film its one of the few horrors that has a very arty feel to it in the medium of the music and the use of dark and light in the scenes, it inparts to you a mood, and what horror is found there is not the full focus of the film unlike so many horrors, it has at its core a simple but good story and some fair acting ,what I like most about it is you come away from the film feeling you have not seen just a horror but something more like a picture a piece of art.

I watched the Keep a couple months back. I'd forgotten how good it was. It gets regularly trashed, but I think it holds up well.

The pity is that the author despised the adaption, which has delayed the filming of any of his other books

[Steadmund Brand]

I myself am a fan of classic horror, I can't say they "scare" me, but to me, it's more about atmosphere, for my money nothing can top the old Universal films, I love Hammer films as well… and there are some absolutely amazing and beautiful silent horror films (bother European and American)but my first love was Universal. Speaking of which, there was an amazing documentary included as a bonus feature on the history of the genre included on the Universal Legacy series anniversary additions… the documentary is well worth the price of the DVD’s alone!!

I lost interest in most horror, slasher films bore me for the most part (The Original Nightmare on Elm street however was quite fun, and did have serious atmosphere!! And the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre ..but why they insist on remaking these films… and they are always terrible remakes!!) and the “startle” or as I like to call them the “Boo” horror films of the 90’s.. where nothing scary happened, things just always seemed to “jump” out at characters…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. I also never understood the big deal with the Blair Witch Project.. I found the film to be a bore… the big deal and hype was “it’s so scary people are getting sick in the theater” well, yeah, I almost got sick too.. but it was from the motion sickness.. shaky cam, on a big screen will give people motion sickness, unless they look away and focus on something still for a moment or two… but the movie itself, did nothing for me.. again, just my opinion, I have several friends who loved it….

Now I can’t wait to go home and watch some films (oh how happy my G/F will be!!)


---Steadmund Brand

[Scorpio]

A whole slew of classic horror came out during my childhood; it was the age of the video nasty and the slasher movie. I like some horror movies that predate my birth, mostly Hammer movies and Roger Corman. I dont think a movie produced after adulthood has scared me, but i thought that The Blair witch project and Ring were pretty effective.

[Barnaby]

Do others find it difficult to be frightened by horror movies either before your birth or after reaching adulthood? Most especially the latter. I would rather fight zombies than most daily stressors. Which of Jigsaw's games would get me out of doing my taxes this year? Growing up sucks.

My favs are Seven and Silence of the Lambs.

[Scorpio]

The Keep was an early Michael Mann effort. Mann later directed The last of the mohicans, and Ali.