Common Ground: Horror Movies/Books/Games/Music/Conventions/Etc.
I’m a big horror fan. When I was young, probably 8 or 10 or somewhere around that age, my mother would take my brother to Boy Scouts once a week and my dad and I would go out to dinner. After dinner we would go to our local video rental store and he would let me pick out 2 videos of my choice. I would always pick out 2 horror flicks and we go back and watch them. My mom would always get so mad at my dad for letting me watch them but my dad would still always let me choose what I wanted to watch.
I grew up watching a lot of 80s and 90s horror videos and those are still my favorites though I do enjoy a lot of black and white horror flicks and also various Asian horror. Current Asian horror is far surpassing current American horror in quality in my opinion. American remakes have been just trash (except The Ring). One of my favorite horror films is A Tale of Two Sisters. The South Korean version is brilliant and the director did an amazing job with visuals, camera angles, creating tension, and giving clues. The American version is pure garbage. Some of my favorite horror is: Freaks (such a classic), Hellraiser series, Lynch films (not really horror but I’m adding it), Argento films, Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead series, Fulci films, Brain Damage, sci fi horror (like Alien series, Scanners and Dark City), The Thing, etc. I could really go on and on about horror. Last year I went to my first horror convention which was pretty awesome.
So, who here likes horror?
Oh my gosh, Korean horror movies creep me out! Japanese as well – you’re so right about quality, it’s such a different (and scary) atmosphere in a good quality movie, rather than trashy remakes haha.
I enjoyed Quarantine, the American remake of Rec (a spanish horror film – I did watch both though and it’s honestly just a shot-for-shot remake so maybe that was why it was good! haha)
I LOVE horror! Thanks for making this thread! I could go on for days about my obsession for Stephen King, Evil Dead – and hey
Has anyone watched the new tv show American Horror Story?
I just downloaded it – I’ve heard it got good reviews so I’m very curious! May as well make a pot of tea and start watching right now :D
Edit: A horror convention sounds amazing! I wonder if they have that sort of thing here in Canada…
Asian horror is super good with the creep out factor. I saw the original Quarantine but not the American version, though it sounds like its the same so I probably don’t need to see it. Doh, I forgot about Stephen King. I used to read his books all the time and The Shining is just an excellent creepy movie.
I saw the American Horror Story and actually really enjoyed it. Definitely some creepy parts. Enjoy your show and tea!
The horror convention was super fun. I might post some pics later if I remember.
Oh I would love to see some pics if you’ve got them laying around!
Alright I’ve procrastinated long enough – time to watch AHS!
I will definitely upload some pics of the horror convention then. Probably tomorrow.
I went to the convention with my friend Mary and my hubby. There aren’t many pics and most of the pics are of us. I look pretty awful in most of the pics. I’m not really a picture person. The convention was so big and it was the first time we went so I was really busy with what was going on and didn’t get too many pics. Next time around I definitely want to dress up and take more pics of people in costumes and the crowds in general. Any pics with ZincInk at the bottom are my friend Mary’s photos. Also, the picture of all the stuff we purchased weren’t just for us, we picked up stuff for people. So, here are the pics: http://s1094.photobucket.com/albums/i446/butikiteas/Horror%20Convention/
omg Gary Busey! That would be truly scary.
haha thank you so much for sharing! It looks like too much fun!!
Hahahahaa. He seemed completely normal for like 10 seconds. You’re welcome. It was a lot of fun. I would like to hit up more horror conventions. There are a lot in my area.
I would love to get to a horror convention. There was one here in town a year or so ago but I think I was out of town that weekend. Love the Blade vampire costume at the end. I assume it is one of the Blade vamps, anyway. :)
Nicole-You should go if you get another chance too. That was actually a puppet and I think my hubby said it was from an obscure horror film but neither of us were sure. They had a ton of really cool puppets.
Daisy, American Horror Story is fantastic. I hope you are deep into it at this point. Season 2 is supposed to take place in a mental institution with only a couple of characters coming back. I believe the phenomenal Jessica Lange will be reprising her role. After you have watched the whole show, you will know why she has been so deserving of the awards she has one for this part. She is the BEST part of the show. Total psycho but understandably so as you will find out.
I’m only 3 episodes in and I’m already hooked!
Seriously creepy, I love the whole thing – the style, the flashbacks, the characters – everything! I will probably finish this season by Halloween, then I will be just as excited for Season 2 as I should be ;)
I’m picky about horror films. Like, if it’s campy horror (Evil Dead, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc.), I’m not interested. One exception to this is the very first Hellraiser film; I loved the writing (love Barker!). Most films that people find scary just make me laugh or bore me. But then there are some that people don’t find so scary that terrify me, like Hitchcock’s The Birds. =) Then there are films that aren’t traditional horror films but that just screw with your head. Those “horrify” me too, like The Clockwork Orange. Finally, films that depict events that could maybe, possibly, happen scare me, too: Twister, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, etc.
I do enjoy horror books. King, Koontz and Barker are my unholy trinity, but I occasionally deviate (to, say, Brian Lumley or Poppy Z. Brite).
Campy horror is one of my favorite things but I can see why some people wouldn’t enjoy it that much. Hmmm, I wouldn’t classify the first 2 Hellraisers as campy at all though the series did get kind of campy.
Geez, how did I forget to mention Hitchcock. I’ve seen nearly everything of his including every single Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Hitchcock Presents. He is just so good.
So, I’ve been thinking about this, and I guess the question is, what is camp? I guess, to me, whenever there’s a horror film with either monsters/imaginary characters or over the top blood and gore (or both), it just feels really cheesy and immediately all the scariness gets leeched out of it. So by that metric, I’d lump Hellraiser in with the rest. But in reality, I agree that Hellraiser is completely different from those films, so I probably need to re-think how I categorise them for myself.
I guess I’m just willing to suspend my disbelief only so far. The Exorcist? Silly. The Omen? Terrifying. (Creepy little children in general are scary, but Damien is easily the creepiest.)
I see what you are saying. I think a huge part of campy is how did it feel at the time. When I was young and saw The Exorcist in its general time period it was so scary. Now that there is better special fx its hard to say that its that scary but I still wouldn’t call it campy. I think campy is ridiculousness to the point where its funny and super cheesy dialog with lots of one liners.
Okay, so you’re saying campy = anything with Bruce Campbell in it? =) That makes sense. I have kind of a morbid sense of humour and tend to laugh at things other people find horrifying (like The Exorcist—I totally cracked up when the demon imitated Father Karras’s mother), so that probably explains why my interpretation of camp might be a little…unorthodox. =]
Definitely anything with Bruce Campbell is horror. He’s been in some real campy ones. Also things like Rawhead Rex and Dead Alive are campy to me. Its real hard to draw the line. For me Exorcist was all about the time and how young I was. It really horrified me. I do have a real morbid sense of humor too. I was reading this book Maldoror, which is one of the first if not first surreal book. Dali had mentioned that Maldoror was an inspiration to some of his art. That book had a lot of horrifying evil parts but they made me laugh. I feel guilty about laughing almost. There was a part SPOILER where he was watching a shipwreck. As the guys fell into the sea one by one he saw them drown or be eaten by sharks. There was one guy after hours of swimming and torment he was making it towards shore. He waited until the moment where the guy had hope. He had reached up and knew he would survive. It was then that he took out his gone and shot him. I snickered but then quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen me because I felt guilty about it.
I was at an airport when I read that and I must have looked nuts laughing then quickly looking around as if someone was also reading what I had just read and judging me.
I loooooove campy horror movies. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is like my favorite thing in the world. I also like crazy psychological horror stuff, like Silence of the Lambs and The Shining. Oh, and everything Hitchcock.
The psychological thriller is probably my favourite genre. The Silence of the Lambs is incomparable, just brilliant.
Since we are talking the series route, I wanted to mention Twilight Zone. That has to be my all time favorite horror related series. Sooo good. I think Eye Of The Beholder is my episode but there are just so many good ones.
OMG, yes! What a fantastic series. I have only seen a few episodes and would love to see more. Such superb storytelling that I remember what I’ve seen years and years later.
Definitely check it out some more. Really great stories. Very well done and still holds up today.
Oh MAN the Twilight Zone! I miss it! There are some episodes that still creep me out so bad.
Looove the Shining, but if you have time, definitely pick up the book to read as well! They are quite different – Kubrick took a lot of creative liberties with the movie, so it’s definitely worth a read AND a watch! Almost entirely different entities.
The Shining (book) is one of the only novels to actually frighten me, give me chills and cause me to jump when I hear a noise! Totally engrossing.
Interesting. The Shining was one of the earlier King books that I didn’t read because I had already seen the movie. I think I know what my next read will be. Thanks!
The Shining spooked me sooo much. To this day I have trouble in hotel bathrooms with the tub curtain drawn. The movie was a huge let down to me, though I did love the cast of Nicholson and I still like the movie – just not as much as the book.
Oh gosh, films rarely live up to the books on which they’re based, eh? We could have a completely separate discussion thread on that alone! Sometimes the film is but a pale shadow of the world we’ve created in our minds whilst reading the book, sometimes the film is different from the book and maybe not so great when compared to it but excellent on its own, and sometimes (rarely) the film actually manages to outshine the book.
That’s why I enjoy that the movie is so different than the book. If I see them as separate, I don’t compare as much. To me, both the book and the movie are awesome – just in different ways!
But srsly – most Stephen King movies are horrible. In a hilarious, but also sad, way. lol
I love The Shining (book & movie), and I also liked Misery (both the book and film) – that one was creepy in a realistic way. Other Stephen King based movies have pretty much failed to scare me/amuse me.
I haven’t seen The Shining, but I have seen 1408 (which, frankly, fell a little bit short, though not much, since I really like John Cusack) and Storm of the Century. I really really liked Storm of the Century the one time I saw it, but that was a long time ago, and I’m not certain if my opinion of it would change if I saw it again at my current age. Anyone seen it? Thoughts?
I heard he is making a sequel to The Shining.
I love campy horror flicks. I love werewolf films as well, unfortunately they aren’t popular. And if they do make an appearance in film its always along side vampires.
As for video games. Silent Hill and Dead Space are my favorite horror series. Resident Evil used to be there but its just turned into an action game.
Not really a fan of werewolf films, but I do love Being Human (both US and UK). But I like vampires, too, so I don’t mind that they also appear in the series. =)
I haven’t seen the US version of Being Human. Is the George character less annoying? XD
Underworld was good, I haven’t seen the latest one. I’m sick of this paranormal romance crap going on right now. Bring back the scary monster element.
Werewolves are my absolute favorite. Amen to scary monsters and not para-romance. I get so hopeful when I hear of a new werewolf movie and most times they are a let down. Folks just can’t seem to get it right. Dog Soliders was the last one I saw that met with my approval as far as the werewolves went.
Andrew, the characters are pretty similar in both versions of the show. =)
Underworld is awesome, I really enjoyed the series (that might have a little bit to do with Kate Beckinsale). I went to see the latest one with a friend and at the end, we looked at each other and both said, “That’s it?”. It was good, but it felt really short.
Nicole, my only problem with dog soldiers is that there was no transformation scene. How do you not include that?
Nik, huh I didn’t know it was short. I will have to wait till DVD for it or something.
True. I was a bit disappointed in that. For me, American Werewolf in London is still the tops for transformation scenes. So much of what is done now is with CG and it always looks too “slick” for me or something.
American Werewolf in London is awesome. The Howling is another one that’s good too. I agree, there is just something about make up that CG can’t quite match. I did like the transformation in the Wolfman remake.
Have you read The Hyde Effect? It is pretty old and was a trashy cheapo horror novel to begin with but it is one of the best pure werewolf stories I’ve ever read. (By pure werewolf I mean the lone force of destruction and fury aspect (zero romance) – he didn’t ever quite become a wolf or wolfman, more like an ape of some kind) I always wished they’d make it into a movie but I know they’d probably mess it up if they did. :)
I have not read that. It sounds interesting, I will have to check it out.
One book that I would recomment is Frostbite: A Werewolf Tale. It shows werewolves as a monster, and does something different with the transformation. The writer doesn’t make it painful like it typically is.
Oh man Dead Space. I tried to play it once. Threw the controller across the room in fear about 5 minutes in. Haven’t played it since lol
Horror is my absolute favorite movie and book genre. I don’t generally care for slasher horror or movies where the only reason for making them is to see how inventive the bad guy can get. Suspense and supernatural are what I like best (though I will admit to owning many, many variations of the original slasher flick – Halloween…).
Completely agree that US horror just tends to be remakes (and bad remakes at that) or just blood and guts. I still watch them in the hopes of finding even one frisson of genuine spookiness in them. :) I do love campy as well, though. Movies that know they are silly is what I think of as campy. Not ones that are bad but take themselves seriously and have no idea they are so bad. Bats, Slither, Evil Dead, 8 Legged Freaks, Lake Placid… All regular watching in my house. :)
Alien still creeps me out. I loved the first couple Resident Evil movies (never played the game) but this latest I’m going to have trouble buying when it comes out. I really, really didn’t like it. It’s like the first movie exceeded my expectations for something based on a video game and since then they’ve been steadily moving towards what I expected to begin with – no real plot and nothing but endless action sequences.
The only problem with tea and horror is that I have to get up too often to use the bathroom! :)
how about books from dean koontz. he has had a few made into films.
I used to read Koontz voraciously. Then I started to realize that all his characters were kinda similar. And he used the same descriptions over and over. And his endings tended to be very abrupt. So while I still have Koontz books I love (Midnight, Strangers, Watchers) I haven’t read much by him lately. Personally, I haven’t cared for the movies of his books but I guess I rarely like the movies of books. :)
I hear his Frankenstein books are good. I haven’t read anything by him. Didn’t know he had movies based off his work either. Always been a King fan haha.
I will have to check him out :)
I have read the first of his Frankenstein books. It was pretty decent. Phantoms is the movie I remember based on his work.
oo I haven’t read the Frankenstein series yet. I just got into Koontz – I find he writes about writers and/or rich people a lot. Still, he’s new to me and I’m enjoying the reads! His style reads SO fast – very hard to put down, and definitely hard to linger on a page when you’re racing to the next! I like that – it’s a nice change from knowing what every blade of grass is doing (aka King) haha
On the topic of campy horror – Tales from the Crypt anyone? ;)
The movies – not the animated series :3
Demon Knight! One of the movies I would be sad if I could never see again. :) Billy Zane was so awesome in that.
Yes Yes Yes! Love Tales From the Crypt. I was always surprised how many celebrities they would get.
Also, really dug Night Gallery series I think it was called.
I LOVE horror movies. All of them, even if they’re campy. The Nightmare on Elm Street franchise is my fav.
My co-worker has a HUGE collection of horror movies, some you’ve never heard of & some that are illegal in many countries. I’ve been gradually going through them. So far the fav that he has lent me is “Ils” (“Them”, its a french movie) pretty awesome.
I prefered the TV version of the Shining than the original movie. It was truer to the book & way more freaky. The book is my fav.
I can’t get through the book IT. The movie was fine, but the book scares the poop outta me.
It is one of the SK books I always want to have in my library. Scary for sure. The movie was a bit creepy but nothing like the book!
Interesting, I’d love to know some titles. I’ll have to look around for ils. I know of a few banned movies and some that had actual killings of animals in it. I wouldn’t want to see that though. I can’t stand watching animals being hurt. That reminds me of the Japanese Guinea Pig series which I think was banned. Had to watch that one since that is the film that Charlie Sheen called the FBI because he thought it was a snuff film. The film makers had to prove no one was harmed in making the film.
Yea the one with the animals is not as bad as everyone makes it out to he. It’s called Cannibal Holocaust. The directors were arrested and the actors had to come put of hiding so they wouldn’t be charged.
Another good one is “Eden Lake”
Yeah, that’s the one I was thinking. I’ve been told to watch it but I just can’t watch something with actual animal abuse in it. Hmmm, Eden Lake sounds familiar is that French or Canadian?
Oh sorry. I’ve watched so many movies that I lose track of names. What is Eden Lake about?
It appears several animals were killed for Cannibal Holocaust including a turtle, a snake, a tarantula, a spider monkey, and a pig. The turtle was supposedly dismembered. How in the world is this “not as bad as everyone makes it out to be”?! I consider any animals harmed for a movie unacceptable. Many animals killed? Ridiculously cruel and criminal. The director was arrested because they thought he had really harmed the people in the movie. He should have been kept there for what he did to the animals.
Yes the animals were actually killed. I was not implying that the killing of the animals was not as bas as made out to be. Rather the movie as a whole, it wasn’t scary, creepy, disgusting (again not including the animal stuff). I don’t condone the killing of anything/ anyone for a movie. Laws were a lot different when this movie was made and I’m sure had someone made this today they would have remained in jail for killing animals.
I’m a fan of a few horror authors! Edogawa Ranpo, Kyoka Izumi and Gustav Meyrink most of all, though I’ve read works by Gabrielle Wittkop, William Hope Hodgson and many others that tend more towards the gothic/grotesque than horror. I like the horror I experience to come from extreme disgust and revulsion and, well, horrific things/actions.
I do like supernatural horror too – mostly from folklorish authors like Pu Songling and Lafcadio Hearn. Folklore and fairy tales can get pretty gruesome.
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