The Horror Thread [Archived] Movie • Page 196

Going to watch Phoenix Forgotten at noon today. I think the last movie I ever saw in the theatre earlier than 7 pm was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory but I am eager

 

Exciting. Keep us posted!

 

So, here's the thing. I saw a trailer for this in front a movie at the theater a few months ago (might have been Get Out) and I remember being completely roped in. I don't know what it was like when people saw The Blair Witch Project for the first time in theaters, but I imagine the feeling was similar to what I felt seeing these grainy images of panic with no discernible plot. It was odd too, because so many found footage films have come and gone since '99, and even doing the VHS thing has run its course in the last few years, but for some reason, the way this trailer was presented didn't seem contrived or tired at all. I kind of felt like I was seeing something I wasn't supposed to. I think the biggest thing that contributed to the mystery was that, if they showed the title in that trailer, I didn't catch it, so all I took from it was "COMING SOON." I don't remember seeing any actor names or the producer credit or anything, but I might just be rewriting history.

Anyways, all of that meant I didn't know what to look up when I got home in order to learn what this movie was. So, I forgot about it (sorry Phoenix). Then, just yesterday, I saw that a movie review was posted on Youtube by a guy I watch and the girl in the thumbnail looked familiar. I knew that this was the movie and I had to see it. I didn't look it up any further or watch the review or anything, and was mostly stoked to see the full version of something I barely remembered but knew I was interested in. Also, I have never heard of the phoenix lights phenomenon, so there's that.

So I got to the theater, remembering that the trailer had a blonde girl in darkness that was freaking out and looking pretty haggard, but beyond that I had no idea what I was in for and I was stooooked. Then, they played the trailer before the movie. What is up with that? I know some people like to go into movies as blind as possible, and showing the trailer then is like tripping someone when they're right in front of the finish line. Anyways, the trailer refreshed my memory a little bit, and reminded me why I was excited, but it still would have been nice to have no idea how the movie was going to get to the panic I remembered seeing in the trailer, because the first two acts are a real slow burn mystery.

It's all super enjoyable though. They justify the found footage thing with a documentary device, and they pull it off so you don't really need to suspend disbelief at all, which is the case with a lot of movies that try a similar thing. I watched Hell House LLC today too, another "documentary" horror movie, and the acting in the interview segments and the reasons that can be assumed as to why a character is filming aren't nearly as strong as they are here. I thought the dialogue was great too. There's a sequence where some characters are a bit lost, so it requires them to do a lot of "Which way are we going, we are lost, is this the right way, god damn I am so mad that we are lost rn," but it never gets frustrating (Blair Witch, I am thinking of you).

I enjoyed getting immersed in those first two acts so much that I would of had a good time even if the third act didn't capitalize on the mystery, but I still would have been pretty disappointed. I like squeezing the juice out of oranges just fine, but imma be happier if I get to drink that juice afterward, and I'd definitely say the third act is some high quality vitamin C not concentrated premium no pulp OJ, ya know? The concept they go with is creepy even without some sort of emphatic exclamation point, and they do go in for a big moment, it still felt grounded to me. I didn't think it showed too little, but even more important, I didn't think it showed too much. I bought it.

Not sure if you can tell, but the friend I normally go to movies with wasn't able to make it, so this I just wrote is probably because I had no one to talk with on the walk home. It was a good movie.

 

Some of my favorite filmmakers working today. The first V/H/S films are two of my favorite modern horror movies, alongside You're Next. I was actually really impressed with Blair Witch and thought House of the Devil was pretty interesting. Outside of those, Joe Swanberg is just one of my favorite directors period. He's had a couple misses, but there's almost always something that strikes me about his films (I love the realism mumblecore lends to characters and dialogue) and Drinking Buddies is straight-up my favorite movie of all time.

 

Blair Witch is one of the most boring movies I've ever seen, but the first two VHS movies and You're Next are incredible.

 

Seeing Raw tonight. I'm pumped.

 

I'm so excited for you. if I could give you any advice, it would be to go in with as little expectation as possible. enjoy

 

I'm fully on the hype train for this one. My most anticipated for the year. I haven't read any reviews, I've just seen that they're vastly positive. I've tried to leave the plot as much of a mystery as I could.

I'm mostly excited because I feel like I haven't seen many new releases this year that have done much for me. Get Out being the highlight of the year so far. The Void was so much fun, but I'm not going to say it was a particularly good film overall. Considering how spoiled we've been the last few years with the indie horror scene, I've expected to see more by this time of the year. Maybe I'm just missing them.

 

I like Drinking Buddies a lot. What makes it your favourite?

 

Who doesn't love watching insufferable narcissists cheat on each other over a super hip microbrew

 

Raw was great. I'm looking forward to watching it again when I get a chance. Beautifully shot. Great lead actress. A great coming-of-age horror film that effectively used cannibalism to deliver a strong message.

 

Much like LOVE (the show), I've never watched a movie that felt more like a mirror at times and a window at others, meaning the characters, their chemistry and dialogue are all very real and make decisions that are sometimes infuriating but also completely believable. I know these people, I've been these people, it's all very raw and visceral and it hurts every time I watch it, but I also pull something different from each viewing. I feel like mumblecore is easy to knock, but Joe Swanberg does it better than anyone else and Drinking Buddies shows that you can still craft a simple romantic dramedy that is makes an impact. Throw a top-notch soundtrack on top of that and it's just a wonderful film that resonates with me personally, inspires me to write and leaves me with feelings that not many other films do (although Her is a close second).

o k a y

 

One of the scariest endings I've seen.

 

I was watching Kill List for the first time today and my DVD started skipping 20 minutes before the end, so I'm going to see if I can find it online. Wouldn't call this horror so far but it's damn compelling

 

is KIDS mumblecore????? I like KIDS

 

This, and Bully are so fucking...grimy.

 

I would say they make me want to a bath but then I think of Gummo and I do not want to take a bath

 

I haven't seen Gummo, nor do I want to.

I've seen KIDS a long time ago back when "have you heard of that movie KIDS?" was said among high school friends, so this was on VHS.

Bully was just fucked up, plain and simple.

 

Gummo is pretty beautiful but hard to get through. Spring Breakers is still his best!

 

That's one I haven't seen.

What about Happiness? I know not from Korine, but still, it's one of "those" types of movies, kind of.

 

Wtf is mumblecore

 

Never seen it, Solondz is a dark spot for me. He seems a bit more cutesy than Korine, though.

 

Maybe, but Happiness is definitely disturbing, yet in a different way that the other movies talked about.

 

this is like the worst thing to happen haha

it's a subgenre, usually microbudget dramas cast with unprofessional actors with improvised/naturalistic dialogues and lowkey plots

 

Drinking Buddies is also one of the few movies that I've turned off and never finished. Which sucks cause I was pretty excited for it. I think Cyrus was my first introduction into mumblecore and I loved that. Although, you could probably make the case that Cyrus transcends the genre and is somewhat of a straightforward dramedy.