Author Topic: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011  (Read 58786 times)

sdedalus

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #30 on: October 03, 2011, 04:36:03 PM »
Well, of course it has supernatural elements.  But that doesn't mean anything.  Spirit of the Beehive is a closer analogue than The Innocents.
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BlueVoid

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #31 on: October 03, 2011, 04:50:26 PM »
I decided to throw my hat into the ring. I'm not sure how many I  will get to, but this is my tentative list.

1.)  The Human Centipede
2.) Evil Dead
3.) Evil Dead 2
4.) Hostel
5.) Dawn of the Dead
6.) Night of the Living Dead
7.) Halloween
8.) Re-Animator
9.) Scream


To start off:

The Human Centipede

I wanted to start October off with a bang. I didn't go into this much talked about and controversial body horror film with high hopes. I expected to be grossed out and left bored by feeble attempts at shock horror. The premise is pretty heinous. A disturbed doctor kidnaps his victims and stitches them together, mouth to rectum, to form a 'centipede'. Clearly this is high brow entertainment.

For the most part I got what I was expecting. The premise delivered what it was advertising. I'm not one to be impressed with graphic displays of mutilation. I don't go for a director trying to shock and disturb the audience just for the sheer sake of producing an emotion. This is cheap. A well crafted and thought out horror film can use graphic displays to accent and heighten the emotional response to a film, but it should not be centered around this. To his credit I don't think director Tom Six does that here. There are many disturbing elements, but I don't think he went overboard with graphic imagery. Sure, there is some - how could there not be given such a premise? - but he also showed restraint. Six at least attempted to go beyond exploitation.

That being said I would never consider this a 'good' movie. Beyond the initial premise the movie doesn't really go anywhere. It tries. It tries very hard. Six appears to be grasping for any sort of deeper meaning he can possibly think of, but it never comes through. It's clear he is channeling the works of better filmmakers like Takashi Miike, but comes nowhere near the quality. Scenes are set up to appear to appear meaningful, but its really just hollow mimicry. Beyond featuring some decent acting by Dieter Laser as the doctor there is really little of value here. The best I can say is that its not as awful as I thought it was going to be.
2/5
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1SO

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #32 on: October 03, 2011, 05:02:12 PM »
Yep. I didn't avoid Human Centipede because of the subject matter (which is actually laughable in it's desperate attempt to be shocking) but because the execution seemed incredibly bland.

Welcome to the Marathon. We're now looking at over 100 possible reviews before the end of the month.

Beavermoose

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #33 on: October 03, 2011, 07:11:42 PM »
I think there's a lot of tongue in cheek humor in the human centipede. *no pun intended*

oneaprilday

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #34 on: October 03, 2011, 08:04:55 PM »
House of Usher (1960)

And indeed, what a film. It takes a couple of major details from Poe's story but really embellishes it in order to get more from the story. In the story, the visitor is a childhood friend of Roderick Usher, in the film he is fiancee of Madeline Usher, a character in the story almost in spirit only. Rather than being a mere observer of the House, Philip is an active participant in a romance with Roderick standing sternly in the way, with dare I say incestuous underpinning. You also get a richer exploration of the Usher curse…is it the house or is it the genes, or is it both? That mystery is the shroud that hangs over the plot.
Are you saying those things are not in the original story?  They are, actually.  (Sorry if I'm misunderstanding you; I'm not quite clear on the distinctions you're making between the orig. story and the film's story. )

Anyway, sounds like a great film - I think I did see it a long time ago, but not since I've been teaching Poe for my Am lit class these past couple of years.  I'll have to check it out!

Beavermoose

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #35 on: October 03, 2011, 08:13:57 PM »
This is not really related to the marathon because I won't be writing something about all of these films but I'm trying to watch one horror film for everyday in the month of October. (31)
I'll edit this list as I go along.

1st: Transformers 3
2nd: Child's Play
3rd: Prince of Darkness
4th: Eyes Without a Face
5th: The Devils
6th: The Omen
7th: Suspiria
8th: Slither
9th: Wolf Creek
10th: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2
11th: Paranormal Activity 2
12th: [REC]
13th: Slumber Party Massacre
14th: Tucker and Dale vs Evil
15th: Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw III
16th: The Birthday
17th: Pieces
18th: Don't Look Now
19th: Prom Night
20th: The Happening
21st: White Skin
22nd: The Devil's Backbone
23rd: The Funhouse
24th: Black Christmas
25th: They Live
26th: The Exorcist
27th: Rosemary's Baby
28th: Zookeeper
29th: Cannibal Holocaust
30th: The Howling
31st: Les diaboliques
« Last Edit: October 31, 2011, 06:45:58 PM by Beavermoose »

Bondo

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #36 on: October 03, 2011, 08:15:18 PM »
The main thing I was saying wasn't in the original story was the romantic plot. I didn't see anything to indicate a romantic bond between Philip and Madeline and without that and thus Roderick's resistance, there was no reason to suspect incest or at least no reason for Poe to pull it out at all.

As to the latter underlined point, by "richer" I meant the film just stresses it more clearly than the story, though the story is certainly tackling that as well. I do definitely recommend you watch the film, I'd love to hear your take with a more detailed grasp of the story.

@BM: LOL at Transformers as horror film.

1SO

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #37 on: October 03, 2011, 08:33:31 PM »
This is not really related to the marathon because I won't be writing something about all of these films but I'm trying to watch one horror film everyday for the month of October.

1st: Transformers 3

I see what you did there.

jim brown

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #38 on: October 03, 2011, 08:45:18 PM »
This is not really related to the marathon because I won't be writing something about all of these films but I'm trying to watch one horror film everyday for the month of October.

1st: Transformers 3

I see what you did there.

It was a horror.   ;)
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Bill Thompson

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Re: Shocktober Group Marathon 2011
« Reply #39 on: October 03, 2011, 09:14:54 PM »
L’uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo (The Bird With The Crystal Plumage, 1970)

Quote
I love making my way through the career of Dario Argento. Even the films of his that aren’t very good are always a great experience to discover. L’uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo isn’t one of his bad movies, but it is a very interesting film in how it stacks up against the rest of his body of work. L’uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo dispels the very incorrect notion that Maestro Argento has built a career on movies that are strictly atmospheric. Don’t get me wrong, L’uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo is full of atmosphere, but it’s also a movie with a clear theme and it highlights a very distinct fetish of a director.

Read the rest at my blog.