When I was in grade school - I had to write a book report - I chose Carrie - when I got it back - in big red letters - See me! In the report I said - " and at the end of the movie when the hands came up out of the ground..."
The 'art-direction' makes it! When Vincent D'Onofrio walks down this big stairs... it's like a sinister 'Cirque du Soleil'!
The Dead (2010) The Dead 2: India (2013) Two very good independently made zombie movies with Romero style shamblers. Train To Busan (2016) Korean zombie move, has runners, though. Still good. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) Robert DeNiro Maybe not that scary, but it's one of my favorite Frankenstien films
Salo or the 120 Days of Sodom is the most horrifying film I've ever seen and it's not even close. It made Cannibal Holocaust look like an episode of Sesame Street.
I don't watch a lot of horror movies, because I don't want to feel that way, anytime. I certainly don't want to sit in a theater with a bunch of people who have a reason to enjoy such experiences. I don't think it's healthy, and I'm already not very fond of the people we've turned into as it is. But I did get that forlorn, "all is lost" vibe from The Omen, and that "how could you!" reaction to Midsommar, for different reasons. I just don't need it in my life, and I most certainly don't need it for fun, educational experience, or catharsis.
With people who want to be thrilled by a supernatural experience, a spooky campfire tale, or some goofy gore fest? It's escapism like any other type of movie. I thought stereotyping horror fans/metal fans as violent burnout psychopaths was a thing of the past, and we'd all grown past that ridiculous prejudice. Just because someone enjoys violent content doesn't mean they're a violent person, and certainly doesn't mean you should be afraid to sit in a theater with them. The best horror movies usually have a point. They can take you emotionally to places you'd rarely ever go in your daily life, allowing you to really get lost in the film in a way you wouldn't with many other genres. When you're scared, you pay close attention, on the edge of your seat. There's artistic merit there that appeals to intellect. And people who go to the crappy blood 'n' guts slasher flicks usually aren't going to live out some violent fantasy vicariously through the main character, it's because most of these films are so poorly constructed they're amusing to watch and mock. My friends and I sometimes watch those movies (the kind Vinegar Syndrome puts out), turn the subtitles on, and do our own Mystery Science Theater as we're watching. It's good fun. I would never buy them, but luckily I have a friend who gets way more enjoyment out of them than I do that purchases them for our collective pleasure on a weekend night. They're fun to mock with the boys, but not good for anything else. Point being none of us are maladjusted or warped because of a silly c-list flick with buckets of fake bright red blood, bad acting, pedestrian writing/directing, and goofy practical effects.
Yes, much different than people who go to the dark web to see footage of actual deaths. Totally separate thing. Scary movies allow you to be scared knowing full well it's all make believe and there is no real danger. Like people who enjoy rollercoasters.
Hereditary scared the crap out of me. I know some are critical of the ending, but I thought it was perfect.
I guess I don't watch cheaply-made blood-n-guts films for the same reason I don't watch Lifetime channel movies...there's so much good stuff out there, I'm happy to choose better. I just get no visceral thrill out of being scared for real; haven't enjoyed it since the Wicked Witch turned the hourglass over, and left Dorothy in the castle to fly off with the monkeys. I do agree, Heredity was "the real thing", and having seen it I shouldn't have gone for Midsommar. I liked the point Jordan Peele was making with Us, though. Just not my thing, and no I simply can't relate to people who want to put themselves through that on a regular basis. And yes, I do like rollercoasters. Not for the "scare", but for the "air".
I've hated horror or suspense movies since I was a little kid, but I went ahead and saw Alien (on a monstrous screen in a great old art-deco movie palace, the Uptown Theater in DC - ah the joys of finding a parking place, right Dave? ). I made the mistake of reading the novelization before seeing the flick, thinking it might take the edge off of the scary bits, but it only made it worse. I ended up railing internally at every doomed character as their inevitable bloody demise approached. That movie made me sick to my stomach watching it. I had to leave the room and take a walk outside to clear my head. Really REALLY disturbing visual effects.
Well, then...it did it's job! I think IFC showed it a few months ago, and I was like, "HEY! Tormond from "Game Of Thrones" is in this!"
