Poll

Choose 2

Audition
1 (2.1%)
Cube
2 (4.2%)
Death Proof
1 (2.1%)
Freaks
2 (4.2%)
Hard Candy
2 (4.2%)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
1 (2.1%)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
3 (6.3%)
M
6 (12.5%)
Martyrs
1 (2.1%)
Misery
0 (0%)
The Night of the Hunter
9 (18.8%)
Se7en
8 (16.7%)
Shutter Island
0 (0%)
The Silence of the Lambs
7 (14.6%)
What Lies Beneath
0 (0%)
Zodiac
5 (10.4%)

Total Members Voted: 25

Author Topic: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller  (Read 1902 times)

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« on: October 17, 2015, 09:56:20 PM »
This month I'll be posting a series of polls - about every 3 days - featuring 10-15 films from a variety of Horror sub-genres.

Round 1 - Creatures
Round 2 - Comedy
Round 3 - Haunted House
Round 4 - Hell, Satan!
Round 5 - Slasher
Round 6 - Supernatural
Round 8 - Vampire
Round 9 - Nature & Psychological Horror
Round 10 - Zombie

There will be 2 votes for all preliminary rounds and on Halloween, the Top 2 winners of each Round will face off in a final Deathmatch.

The films are selected from the most popular options on They Shoot Zombies, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Horror Films.

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2015, 09:59:48 PM »
1. The Silence of the Lambs
2. Se7en

3. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
5. M
6. Martyrs
7. Audition
8. The Night of the Hunter
9. Misery
10. What Lies Beneath
11. Hard Candy
12. Freaks
13. Death Proof

14. Zodiac
15. Shutter Island
16. Cube


Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2015, 11:51:55 PM »
Holy crap, some amazing films in here. So hard to pick.

The Night of the Hunter
Zodiac
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
The Silence of the Lambs

Se7en
M
Martyrs
Shutter Island
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Misery

Death Proof
Freaks

Cube
What Lies Beneath


Haven't seen. I know.
Audition
Hard Candy
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

Dave the Necrobumper

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 12730
  • If I keep digging maybe I will get out of this hol
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2015, 12:00:58 AM »
M was easily the first pick, it's in my top 100.

It was a bit of a toss up between Cube and Death Proof, but I will go with Cube. I have not seen any of the others.

MartinTeller

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 17864
  • martinteller.wordpress.com
    • my movie blog
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2015, 01:51:57 AM »
1. The Night of the Hunter
2. M
3. Se7en
4. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
5. The Silence of the Lambs
6. Shutter Island

7. Zodiac
8. Misery
9. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
10. Audition
11. Cube
12. Freaks

13. Death Proof

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2015, 01:59:33 AM »
Zodiac
Hard Candy
Se7en

Shutter Island
The Silence of the Lambs

I might be misremembering how much I liked Se7en (or did not care fore Silence for that matter).

These threads are really getting me to wonder at everyone's definition of a horror movie.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2015, 10:44:35 PM »
These threads are really getting me to wonder at everyone's definition of a horror movie.
You find that with any genre. Blazing Saddles is a comedy, but is it also a Western? or a Musical? Film-Noir has a very rigid definition, and I know Martin likes to stay within those perimeters. However there are noir precursors, modern noir, non-American noir, and additional films between 1940-1964 that have noir elements. It dilutes the brand to where under the broadest definition, pretty much any crime drama can be called Noir.

I never thought of Shutter Island as Horror, even though Scorsese uses to spooky horror imagery for atmosphere and the central mystery is certainly horrific. The film's lighting and costumes also use Noir characteristics, but does that make it Noir?

I had a discussion with the person who created the list, which was made by compiling over 1200 other Horror lists. I found it strange that Eyes Wide Shut came up more often than Monsters Inc. "because it's 'psychological' and because of the dark atmosphere. Monster's Inc, on the other hand, has monsters but that's about it. It only appears on 2 lists and they are both 'monster movie' lists."

I replied, "I'm not going to make the argument that Monsters Inc. belongs on a Horror list, but there are scary moments (Spider-legged Waternoose on the attack borrows from a scene in The Terminator), a couple of intense scenes (like the Scream Extractor machine) and the creepy chameleon ability of Randall Boggs. Those are more directly related to Horror than a dark atmosphere.

What about Pink Floyd: The Wall? Certainly that has psychological horror, a dark atmosphere and nightmarish imagery. I find it strange that it's excluded but Eyes Wide Shut is not. I don't question how the list is compiled, but the reasoning of some of the lists themselves for including a film like Eyes Wide Shut but excluding Monsters Inc. or Pink Floyd: The Wall."

oldkid

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 19044
  • Hi there! Feed me worlds!
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2015, 12:31:35 AM »
Mrs. oldkid pointed out that in Monster's Inc, the monsters are the protagonists, rather than the object of horror, so it reverses the horror trope to such a degree that monsters are no longer horrible, and that reversal happens in the first few minutes.  How to Train Your Dragon is a more successful horror film, because the dragons are truly frightening for at least the first half of the film. 

Pink Floyd:The Wall is kind of dark, but the darkness is in our own minds, as well as Pink's.  This seems to be strictly a psychological film instead of really containing any real horror.  On the other hand, Kanal, although the horror is primarily psychological, the existential horror is so strong, I'd count it as a horror movie more than The Wall.

I wouldn't call Eyes Wide Shut horror.  I just thought of it as weird, not reflecting horror themes.  The Wicker Man is certainly more horror than that, and I'd consider it on the edge.

Oh, my list.

Freaks
Silence of the Lambs
M
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Audition
Misery
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Zodiac

Night of the Hunter
Death Proof
Shutter Island
Se7en

"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

1SO

  • FAB
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 36128
  • Marathon Man
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2015, 01:13:02 AM »
Mrs. oldkid pointed out that in Monster's Inc, the monsters are the protagonists, rather than the object of horror, so it reverses the horror trope to such a degree that monsters are no longer horrible, and that reversal happens in the first few minutes.  How to Train Your Dragon is a more successful horror film, because the dragons are truly frightening for at least the first half of the film. 

A good point to consider, but where does that leave The Nightmare Before Christmas? The scary creatures are the protagonists there too, but in the film they all (including Jack) get a chance to demonstrate what makes them scary.

DarkeningHumour

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10453
  • When not sure if sarcasm look at username.
    • Pretentiously Yours
Re: Shocktober Deathmatch: Round 7 - Thriller
« Reply #9 on: October 19, 2015, 01:37:43 AM »
I get your points 1SO but I was still a kid when Monsters Inc. came out and would not have dreamed of being scared. Ultimately, that is how I define a horror movie : something that scares you (or tries to). You can obviously identify horror related themes and character-types, moods, camera tricks, etc. ; but when it comes to it there is no more reason to consider monsters an intrinsically horror trope more than, say, a fantasy trope. By definition, monsters are physically uncommon characters and can be made to play any role. They can be scary of comedic. Similarly, a movie about a serial killer can be a comedy, even if it follows the exact recipe of a classic horror movie. You could argue for the existence of a horror-spoof subgenre, but what is the value of a subgenre that as completely strayed away from the basic tenet of its mother genre ?

I seem to have a broader definition of Noir than Martin. I have no problem including neo-Noir and the like inside the Noir genre and believe movies like Brick absolutely do belong there. But I have more trouble doing the same with horror, perhaps because its definition for me lies more in the creation of a specific reaction than a set of moods and tropes.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

https://pretensiouslyyours.wordpress.com/

 

love