I've enjoyed reading all of these posts.
Horror/Fantasy/Terror/Scary/Monster movies have been near and dear to me my whole life, ever since I can remember from the early '60s. I have seen so many films in the theater and on televsion, many mentioned here. It is not uncommon for me to stream a movie and then realize I saw it at the theater eight years ago.
Horror is so difficult to pin point, to define. I'm sure some of you have heard Boris Karloff did not like the phrase "Horror" movies. By his definition, the only really Horror movie he was in was Peter Bogdanovich's film, Target (1968). The Hunchback of Notre Dame shows up in books on horror movies, but is it really a horror movie? The Phantom of the Opera is another example, but it comes closer.
Sometimes we define horror as the point of suspense in a film that we see but the on screen character does not. The opposite is true too. We are surprised by the sudden attack/danger. Sometimes it is shocking imagery. That can range from Boris Karloff slowly turning around and the camera jumping closer and closer to Jack Pierce's beautiful makeup for the Frankenstein monster. Or the film maker distracts you with silence, music, a calm scene, and then something is presented that startles or scares the crap out of you. Sometimes it might be a sound, usually loud. That was a device used in the budget pictures produced by Val Lewton, like The Cat People (1942 directed by Jacques Tourneur). I don't think he invented it, but I've seen it referred to as the Val Lewton effect.
auntblabby wrote:
anybody here ever watch "Teeth"?
I have not seen
Teeth, but now I want to. It's a great title. The title sounded familiar, so it might be I've seen it and have forgotten. It happens.
Sweetleaf wrote:
Idk I'd like to see one that is actually scary. Like I want a movie I will jump out of my seat and try and hide under the coffee table in horror. Why is that so much to ask.
I would recommend
The Babadook. It is a 2014 low budget, independent film written and directed by Australian Jennifer Kent. I personally think it is brilliant, and I think it will make your skin crawl, and make you jump.