Horror Show

[Magpie]

Watched one of my all time favourites over the weekend: Theatre of Blood, with the incomparable Vincent Price and the scrumptious Diana Rigg.

This week I'll hopefully get a chance to watch Scream and Scream Again, again.

[RivkahChaya]

Watched one of my all time favourites over the weekend: Theatre of Blood, with the incomparable Vincent Price and the scrumptious Diana Rigg.

I love that movie!

"Nobody dies in Merchant of Venice...."
"Leave it to him to rewrite Shakespeare."

BTW, Diana Rigg was more than just "scrumptious"; she was also quite good.

[Robert]

Ah yes, Theatre of Blood. Robert Morley unwittingly eats his own poodles.

Scream and Scream Again contains the line "I'm a composite too."

[Robert]

I'm glad this one finally made it to you tube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M-MtZkZOzw

[RivkahChaya]

"Nuclear radar"?

[Robert]

As I recall, they were boosting their radar signal with nuclear power. Hence the trouble. Nuclear power was at the bottom of many such films in those days. I think there's a line about a brain being "sucked out like an egg through its shell."

[RivkahChaya]

Oh. I thought it was a mistake for "nuclear radiation." I haven't seen this since I was about 8, and it was on late-night TV. I probably slept through most of it. A UK film set in the US should be interesting. That doesn't happen much.

[Steve S]

Personal feeling..To me,"Horror" involves the Supernatural...others are Sci-Fi,Thrillers etc with extra-bloody bits...........

[Robert]

Yes, I suppose for supernatural read "uncanny." Such stories have a definite feel to them.

However, that said, some of the old Twilight Zone stories could be pretty creepy even when they were about science fiction subjects e.g. wandering into a parallel universe and then finding yourself gradually becoming less real
on account of not belonging there. Or falling into a time loop where you only get ten minutes to plot a means of escape, before the whole thing starts again from scratch.

[Steve S]

Cross-genre is always a personal thing..hammy 'tho it is.I love "Witchfinder General"...but..Horror?Historical?.........

[RivkahChaya]

Personal feeling..To me,"Horror" involves the Supernatural...others are Sci-Fi,Thrillers etc with extra-bloody bits...........

While I understand what you mean, Alien was one of the scariest movies I ever saw (I saw it in the theater when it was first released, an experience that can't be recreated), and while it's fair to call it sci-fi, I have no problem with it being shown at a horror movie fest.

There are lots of movies that walk the line: Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Jeff Goldblum version of The Fly-- "horror" and "sci-fi" are just crossover genre, with some films belonging to both.

I can't think of one off the top of my head, but there are certainly films that belong to the "mystery/suspense" genre, and also the "horror" genre, just like there is lots of crossover between "mystery/suspense" and "crime/detective."

The Uninvited, for example, is a supernatural film, but it isn't sci-fi, and it isn't horror, and you can't classify it as anything but "mystery/suspense," unless you have a separate "supernatural/paranormal" category, but don't put the straight up sci-fi there, because most of it genuinely doesn't belong (Metropolis), and the ones that you could squeeze in, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you really shouldn't, because the target audience is different.

Other than a film like The Blair Witch Project, in which [SPOILER*], I can't think of a horror film that is only horror, and not something else as well.


*the question of supernatural involvement is never resolved

[Steve S]

Difficult isn't it?..............Then you've got "supernatural" stuff involving twinkly Vampires which are only horrific in their plots/acting.........

[RivkahChaya]

Difficult isn't it?..............Then you've got "supernatural" stuff involving twinkly Vampires which are only horrific in their plots/acting.........

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[Scorpio]

A movie called ' Dead of night ' is supposed to be quite scary. It's black and white,British; and it was made in the 30's or 40's.
Has anyone seen it?.

[RivkahChaya]

Dead of Night (1945) is an excellent film, and a little creepy and unnerving, but I wouldn't call it really scary. It's absolutely a great watch, though, and I highly recommend it.

Don't confuse it with a later film of the same name.