Hello. I'm interested in the horror genre. I often find myself occupied, thinking about who the person was that came up with typical archetypes in the genre, or what kind of myth or tale is responsible to what is commonly accepted as scary stuff. I mean, we all don't accept candy from stranger for a good reason, or is it all suspicion? I only know the popular story's, and it's not that I don't want to know more about them and think I don't know enough yet. I also know the more popular, mainstream titles in movies. Do you have any recommendations that are lesser known horrors, and possibly change my conception of the genre? It's this kind of enrichment I'm currently seeking after Books and movies are fine. If it's a movie after a book, also fine If they were very good or very bad, or just something that stayed with you for some unknown reason, tell me about it. Thank you for sharing the less common horror title. The things I enjoyed in the past hopefully resemble nothing I'm not yet familiar with. I want to develop a good, deep, broad taste for the genre. Connoisseurs, please help me with some quality or original titles to look at. European and North American works for me, but regardless of where it originates or out of what time it stems, doesn't matter. I speak English and Dutch. Most movies are no problem for me, even different languages are maybe worth a shot. Anything with subtitles will do. Books and movies please. Titles I know already are Saw, Rob Zombie films, the famous serial killer movies (and parodies), The fourth kind, The ring, the sixth sense, resident evil is horror to a degree, I seriously enjoyed Silent Hill, most zombie films deserve my attention, they are flat out fun, among which I've seen most titles that have "of the (dead)" in them. The first horror I saw was as a child, it really stressed my out; animation the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I also fell in love with the genre since then. Before that 'scary' elements in stories were only meant to depict forces of evil, or bad guys. Little did I know it was a genre, and Sleepy Hollow did a good job at showing me that art can be used to torment you. I also didn't know it wasn't the only movie with that intention. Books read are scarce; the Relic and it's sequel, which is by far not as enjoyable as the first one, which was great. It's long winded and vulgar in the beginning, and I don't know the rest of it yet. There are probably more, but if you have a rare title, chances are a newbie like me hand't heard of it. It opens my doors to understand more about horror and what makes it really horror! Like the title says, I'm also looking for uncensored gore and violence. It triggers me, because I think there are no borders in entertainment. I even find it spectacular and fascinating. Also, if there are communities or resources or libraries you think I should look: let me know. But so far I haven't googled my way into the depths of becoming a horror specialist. All I have is my taste and preference and I'm fond of it. More.
I love horror but I don't like gore, so I lean more towards the supernatural. I also like things that don't really have much explanation, there's no curse or 'reason', it's just a senseless evil and you can't stop it. I don't actually read that much horror which is odd but do watch and play it. My mum used to work nights when I was little and my dad is a horror lover, so I'd sit up at night with him and watch these films things- he'd cover my eyes for the gory bits. The first proper horror film I watched was John Carpenters Vampires. I did read Sheep by Sean Maginn after I watched The Dark on which it's based but both are good. I picked up a film just before Christmas I think, a cheap DVD on offer and it sat on my shelf for a while. It's called Across the River. I didn't realise it was in Italian but it didn't matter because the dialogue is so sparse. It was terrifying, and I find it hard to explain why. It's claustrophobic, incredibly tense, deeply atmospheric and you're waiting and waiting for something to happen- when something does happen it's grotesque. It's an odd film, which is reflected in online reviews I've since read but it's worth looking up. Apart from that; Woman in Black (have bought the book for my holiday in a couple of weeks because what else would I read on a beach??) Incidious 1 and 2, The Conjuring I thought was alright but the prequel Annabelle was better. The Quiet Ones was also really disturbed me and again I'm not entirely sure why but I think because the characters think they're in control but obviously aren't. Finally, I watched Grave Encounters last weekend which kind of spoofs those 'Ghost Hunter' style programs and was much better than expected.
Nice! I forgot to mention I also hugely enjoyed all the Hannibal films, like I said there might be others I still might com up with. Ghost busters takes the normally scary supernatural and turns it into comedy. Interesting, but cheesy, just like for example Casper. I find it so disappointing that the humor is kind of the humor for the kid who thinks laughing the loudest equals having the mostest of fun, kind of superficial. The reason I keep watching is not only not to stand out and spoil it for the rest, it;'s rewarding to train a sharp eye for artist impressions. Impossible with blockbusters, their entertainment value simply is too high and that priority also spoils it for me. "What did you expect" is often what I hear myself thinking when I'm displeased again for the course movie takes the initially promising premise. It's rewarding to keep watching these things because they were fun enough to start watching, so just because they don't turn out what I expect them to be, doesn't mean that the rest of it is going to be as worthless. That's why plot twists exist. I'm going to come back here later when I have some spare time to pick one from the list. Of course asking why you'd recommend said titles would give me the answer "find out for yourself", which is exactly what I'm going to do. Feel free to disclose what so appealing was to you about the title that you'd recommend it, I'm going to have my own opinion about it anyway, I'm grown up enough for that. I might even come back and tell you what my opinion was in return
I love Ghostbusters and Casper, actually. For a bit of comedy-horror I really like Sean of the Dead and Cabin in the Woods. It's fair enough though, I've seen films and read books where the idea had a lot of potential but it wasn't handled well. That's partly why I don't like the Saw films, it feels like the gore is just for the sake of shocking people, but as I said I'm not a fan of gore to begin with. The same for the Final Destination films. The first two, possibly the third, I thought were really good- cheating death and death catching you regardless, is a good idea but they didn't need to make 5 or 6 of the same film. Although saying that, when Scream 4 was brought out I rolled my eyes and waited until it was on TV one night and I was surprised how well it was done, it had a really nice twist. Sooo, with regards to some of the titles I mentioned, The Dark plays on Welsh mythology which I enjoy anyway as it's very otherworldly and it's not one usually portrayed in film. The book is more of a psychological thriller and quite different and goes a lot deeper. I watched Insidious at my friends house and at the time she lived in a really old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and I think the atmosphere just got to me, but it is genuinely frightening and disturbing. There's a particular section of photographs where the entity gets closer and closer and it freaked me out. As far as sequels go, I tend to approach them with caution because I feel there isn't often a need for one but the second film was a brilliant continuation of the story and was really clever in tying the two films together. Same for The Woman in Black. It felt like it didn't need to prop itself up on pointless violence. The location is incredibly creepy, the story is good and also quite sad. There are some spectacular jump scars- I actually screamed in the cinema which should be embarrassing but thankfully some people were louder than me! I have high hopes for the book. I've meant to read more by the author so if I enjoy this one I'll buy more of her work. Annabelle- it's the doll. I don't know what it is about dolls that get under my skin. I think ultimately the things I look for that, for me, make a really good film are the feelings of isolation and helplessness and the sense of something hunting and closing in. But if you do ever pick any of them up I'd like to hear what you think.
Funny that chapter two of Insidious uses the exact same thing as in part one with the baby phone and the voice, and it still worked.
Jacob's Ladder which is not gory, but it's good horror and big inspiration behind Silent Hill. Cannibal Holocaust. Beware, there is actual on-screen killings of real animals in this movie. Martyrs. Cube. Canadian Sci-fi. A group of people are trapped in a series of boobytrapped rooms. Ignore the sequels. The Cell. It's not good, but it's pretty. John Dies at the End. The book, not the movie. Read the book first. SE7EN. Not very gory, it leaves most to the imagination, but the atmosphere is gritty and oppressive. Requiem for a Dream. It's not gory except for a few shots near the end, but it fills one with that icky feeling. Filadae. Animated movie about cats being murdered. It has some of the most horrific imagery I've ever seen. Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni/When they Cry. Anime. You might think you're watching the wrong show when you start, but trust me, it's the right show. There's also Higurashi Rei and Higurashi Kai. Elfin Lied. Another anime. Great gore.
Seen Requiem, and it's a title you've seen once and will remember it forever. Most of them never heard of. Thanks for providing an explanation so I know which ones to avoid.
Read Jack Ketchum's "Off Season," if you want a gory book. Or maybe Brian Keene's "Urban Gothic." Also, Survivor by JF Gonzalez; Edward Lee (The Bighead, for example); Could probably come up with a few more, though I'm not a big fan of gore-filled books.
I thought of some others. People Under the Stairs. It's silly, but it's a fairly unique story with amazingly fun characters. REPO! The Genetic Opera. It's a musical. With Paris Hilton. By the dude who did SAW II-IV. But it's good. Suck. Canadian vampire musical comedy with actual rock stars. Henry Rollins, Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and more. Hellraiser. You know, the Pinhead movies. Stir of Echos. Kevin Bacon Sees Dead People. Very creepy imagery. Identity. It's silly and fun horror that takes itself super-serious. It's probably not as good as I think it is. John Carpenter's The Thing. NOT the remake. Watch it for the amazing special effects. Candyman. Fun gory horror with an awesome villain. ETA: Ginger Snaps. Teenage female werewolf. Anything by the Soska Sisters. Particularly the film American Mary, which is about a young med student who is raped by her mentor and takes up illegal body modification.
