I miss old type horror films

The BBC Woman in Black, correct.

 

If it was that film, the Radcliffe film was quite good.

 

The BBC version is superb. You can find it on you tube at "watchable" quality

 

I saw a trailer for this and then forgot the title, so thanks for this reminder!

 

Looks right up my alley, thanks. What is "RP English?"

 

I did not realize I'd basically posted the same things a few times to this thread - I got it mixed up with some similar threads.

I do want to add something about "The Woman in black." Another poster was critical of me for suggesting someone watch it on youtube instead of supporting the British Film Institute. I totall get that, and I'm a big fan of BFI. That being said, there's virtually no other way to see this film right now. The BFI website rental section doesn't have it (they only have the newer, crappier one) and you cant rent or buy it from any other mainstream site or streaming service.

For fairness, here is the Amazon UK link, which does have it used and it can be shipped to other countries, including US

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Woman-Black-DVD-Region-NTSC/dp/B00004UEEU

There are a few very questionable US retail mail order firms offering this DVD but as best I can tell they are selling DVD-R's and who knows how those are sourced?

 

Thanks. Maybe it will be more easily available some time, I'll keep it in mind. Sitting at my computer and watching a movie on doesn't seem a way to appreciate any mood it establishes. I have seen the modern one with Daniel Radcliffe. It was okay, but not particularly memorable.

 

Well it means they don't talk like me, but Received Pronunciation (RP) was seen as the correct way to talk English, the BBC's newsreaders would have to have it to be understood across the country, recently we've had a proletariat revolution.

 

Interesting references to The Woman in Black, as there is now a Woman in White mini-series on PBS. It features horror of the dark and stormy night variety. Attempts by a husband to steal his wife's money, her imprisonment in a private insane asylum, etc. A Mr Rochester in reverse.

 

Which is why so many North Americans need subtitles on some Brit programs

 

'It Follows' - nice little film, creepy and unsettling rather than head exploding gore.

 

The Woman in White is based on what some consider the first mystery novel or even detective novel, by Wilkie Collins. This might fall under the Gothic category, which only sometimes lapses into horror. Referencing the novel I can't recall any supernatural or outright shock elements in the plot, mostly disbelief in the way fate seems to turn against some of the characters.

 

Well the last time I was in Glasgow we all needed an interpreter. This is myself and my friends as we all hail from Bolton, doesn't sound too difficult to me and you even get Parkinson's Yorkshire accent

 

This thread made me think of this.

 

I have not seen the new one, but did like the Justine Waddell, and Simon Callow version of Woman In White.
A couple of others like this are: The Wyvern Mystery (Naomi Watts, Derek Jacobi) and Dark Angel with Peter O'Toole. They are based on stories written by J S LeFanu and have their share of creepiness.

 

Thanks - I learned something today.

 

Not very hard to DL the file and burn to a dvd. My TV functions as my computer monitor, too, so not a problem here. Might be good to download it anyway, cause it could very well be gone at some point - legally, it's not supposed to be there.

 

I also miss the old-fashioned horror film that relied on mood, atmosphere, the power of suggestion, and the inexplicable creeping into the seemingly normal.




The Woman in Black (TV Movie 1989) - IMDb

The Woman In Black (BBC-TV 1989) is one of the best ghost stories I've ever seen, equal to The Innocents (1961) and The Haunting (1963) on every level and vastly superior to either The Uninvited (1944) or The Legend of Hell House (1973). Nigel Kneale, whose writing was to British television what Rod Serling was to the USA, adapted the novel by Susan Hill and in many respects improved on it. Kneale is best known for live BBC teleplays like The Abominable Snowman of the Himilayas and Quatermass and the Pit which were later made into features by Hammer Films. Kneale knew how to tell a ghost story. It's tonally scary throughout and rests entirely on the power of suggestion -- almost entirely. It was shot on 16mm film and received several broadcasts before it was released on DVD by Carlton in 2000. The DVD was pulled from release because the rights to a feature film were under negotiation. Eventually the remake would be produced in part by the new Hammer Films, followed by a sequel. It's okay but nowhere near as good.

Although out-of-print the DVD can still be found occasionally on ebay and amazon marketplace. Clones are also offered. I bought an excellent clone on ebay before I found the real thing. I paid $70 for a used copy. I had to have it. But, as I said, it was shot on 16mm film, so if you are lucky enough to get one don't expect bluray quality.

It's a real shame The Woman In Black isn't officially available because it's one of the best ghost stories ever told on film.

 

You may be thinking of the low-budget independent film Terror In The Haunted House (1958)

https://www.amazon.com/Terror-Haunt...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1542343028&sr=1-3

or William Castle's ballyhoo classic with Vincent Price The House On Haunted Hill (1959), which is best seen in this bluray collection:

https://www.amazon.com/Vincent-Coll...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1542343670&sr=1-1

although there are several cheaper and lesser quality editions available.

Not great haunted house films by any means, but fun.

 

yesstiles, I second the recommendation to watch Mario Bava's wonderful Black Sabbath (1963) but you're giving too much away with that capture!

Read The Haunting of Hill House (published in 1959) by Shirley Jackson.
She may have based it on a real-life experience in the Jackson family:

https://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Hil...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1542346293&sr=1-3

Also, you need to buy these two blurays:

https://www.amazon.com/Innocents-Bl...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1542345882&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Blu...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1542345953&sr=1-1

The Innocents (1961) and The Haunting (1963) remain the best haunted house stories ever filmed. A lot of haunted house films come and go lately but these two stake out the turf and establish the procedure and define the genre.

 

This movie came out of nowhere and gobsmacked me.
Did you notice that the voice of the father at the beginning is also the voice of the devil at the end?

A review I circulated to the American Film Market a few years ago:

Want to see a movie that's genuinely scary? or at least deeply unsettling? Filmmaker Robert Eggers takes his camera back in time, as one should, to the 1600s to tell what he calls "a New England folk tale" in The Witch (Canada 2015). Watch it at night in the dark with no interruptions. Banished from their Puritan village for preaching gospels critical of the Village Council, a family must survive on their own in an isolated forest cabin. These people are hard on themselves, feeling guilty and begging forgiveness for sins they haven't committed except in passing thoughts. They are unaware of the coven of witches who hide in the woods, here portrayed as savage misfits, whose transgression triggers the escalating horror.

Eggers austere production, dramatic minimalism and metaphysical preoccupations are worthy of Ingmar Bergman. Like Bergman, he is a master of metaphorical imagery, pregnant silences and the grim power of suggestion. He successfully conjures up a sense of mystery and palpable dread by showing how a family's fears and superstitions manifest into cold hard reality. If the devil isn't real, their minds make him real. This is quiet, studious story-telling that achieves pure cinema.The Witch is also an impressive historical film. Eggers is observant of period speech, behavior and customs. He turns research into practical business for actors. There's no awareness of Hollywood's commercial and political requirements, no cliches, no stereotypes, no contrivances, no false steps and best of all, no famous movie stars. The Witch is a perfect horror film as true as history, and very much after my own heart.

The Colonial Gothic is an art that never took root in American cinema. Odd when you consider that audiences always embraced The Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Dragonwyck and believe it or not, the soap opera Dark Shadows. The only way to get this kind of film made is in the independent world, where Eggers made his, and where all things are possible. If someone with the funds wants to be a movie producer and fund low-budget, independent Colonial Gothics to sell at the AFM, I'm your filmmaker. Meanwhile, you won't find a more potent example of the nearly lost art than The Witch.



https://www.amazon.com/Witch-Blu-ra...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1542347887&sr=8-4

 

I review Netflick's new mini-series

Netflick's The Haunting of HIll House (October 2018)

which is a modern horror film that uses old methods.

 

Would make a real nice double-feature!

 

I absolutely love the old Hammer and Amicus movies (especially the portmanteaus). I did see a couple of modern portmanteau flicks recently that I enjoyed - 'Ghost Stories' [2017] and 'Southbound' [2015]. But, as I say, I can watch the Amicus ones over and over again. I love everything about them!