/horror/ general megathread - Let's talk about movies and shit.

[JustKiwiPosting]

Spoiler: Obsession

I think it is because of the phrasing used. Ian is simply "I wish for a billion dollars".
Bear is "I wish Nikki loves me more than anything else in the world" which probably includes the 'love' from crazy bitches and then more. If Bear said "I wish Nikki loves me", maybe she wouldn't be crazy.

I can appreciate your point but I think even you are giving more thought to the concept than the director did.

Spoiler: What could have saved the flick

I think the flick would have been far better if nothing happened when Ian uses his Willow for the billion dollars. You'd have to maybe make a few minor changes to what lead up to that point in the film, but it could have been a really all time great Horror movie twist. I mean at that point Ian is also in hot water for being an accomplice to Sarah's murder so would be facing a similar fate to what Nikki has waiting for in the actual flick.

 

[Commander X]

 

[The Blue Morpho]

Backrooms movie:

Mike Stoklasa - "It's good enough."

Lowres - "You can tell a 19 year old directed this."

Pretty good, but also pretty unremarkable. The best parts of the movie really just felt like I was watching another Kane Pixels liminal horror youtube video. Which I like those videos, but for a movie that's not a good thing. This is because it feels like this "movie" does almost nothing to elevate the material from the medium of spooky internet video to the medium of actual film. Not worth seeing in theaters, but if you already like Kane's stuff you'll still enjoy yourself. It is head and shoulders above its siblings in this current crop of "Youtuber makes a horror movie" movies but being better than Iron Lung and Shelby Oaks isn't saying much at all.

I cannot honestly say I'm glad we got this moderately above-average movie instead of like over a year's worth of Kane working on videos for his other projects.

 

[Party Hat Wurmple]

I also believe he played RE because Whitest kids u know had a bunch of gamer skits he was in. They knew Xbox live call of duty lobbies. They know RE.

No they don't.

Spoiler: Zach Cregger RE Trailer Breakdown

He flat out says it.

Weapons started out as if it was going to be absolutely incredible and then the mystery ended up being absolute bollocks.

This is all of Zach Cregger's work in movies and yet nobody agrees with me. Barbarian is the exact same thing. Good start, blows its load and it's load was stupid. It'll be the same thing with Resident Evil.

Nothing Bear does is intentional, in fact one of the major issues the film has is he is just a passenger to the shit happening around him

Other posters already address this but really think about the background of his home and his life and hobbies.

Plus about 15 minutes in I wanted to slap the main character's annoying brat of a son.

Again, that's kind of the point.

What's worse is that this was a film that was heavily recommended to me by a horror buff friend of mine, and I cannot even comprehend how they'd find it tolerable, let alone their favourite horror from the past few years.

Longlegs has all the style but none of the writing. They are making a Longlegs 2. Now that the load is blown and all pretenses of this being fucking dumb are dropped, I am curious to see WHAT they'll do from here. If nothing else, maybe we can at least let Cage be his Cageiest.

Longlegs was actually pretty good and holds up on rewatch so you’re just wrong

Disagree, but I see everything and anything, including slop so I don't necessarily agree that it's all THAT bad.

We Bury The Dead - started pretty strong but fell apart halfway through. Give it a miss.

It's an interesting enough concept and it hits its notes....ENOUGH that I don't regret seeing it. It just live up to what it could be. I think it really had a good idea in those first 10 minutes though.

the real villain is Ian.

Ian was a piece of shit undoubtedly.

Ian really is responsible for the entire movie.

Spoiler: Ian is worse than you think

If he was just honest with Bear, none of this happens. If he just pointed him in Sarah's direction, none of this happens. If he at any point stopped trying to sabotage his friend and just was honest with him, none of this happens. If he just let Bear get rejected, none of this happens. He refused to let him confess though. He tried to sabotage their relationship when it does happen. Everything he does throughout the movie is self serving. He only checks out Nikki's dad because he's pissed off his bang maid is gone. He only tells Bear so they'll stop dating.

When that all fails though? What does he do? The real thing that gets me is when he starts telling Bear that he's TAKING ADVANTAGE of Nikki. It's pretty clear between the lines Ian went around to all of their mutual friends and pitched this skewed version of the story to them to make Bear look like a predator, which he was, but Ian didn't KNOW THAT at that point. When he doesn't get he wants, and he can't break them up, what does he do? He SABOTAGES THEM. What a fucking dickbag. Fuck, who needs enemies when they have friends like Ian? Hell, I don't buy that Ian didn't try to stick his dick in Sarah too. They're all clearly willing to lie to each other.

 

[AnOminous]

I consider minorities to be irredeemable demons, and yet I still think those shows are trash.

They should have just had another Cenobite be an actual troon since troons are already basically Cenobites.

So the zombie genre is virtually dead?

They've been massively overdone for a couple decades, and none of it early Romero tier. It's time we had a break for a while.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Disagree, but I see everything and anything, including slop so I don't necessarily agree that it's all THAT bad.

The acting is fucking great all around, the set pieces are good, and when you realize ‘Oh that nigga is the devil and these people are literally possessed’ the plot holes disappear

It’s pretty fucking gay that there’s a backlash against that movie when it was universally beloved when it came out for good reasons

Yeah it’s basically a rip off of Silence of the Lambs and a couple of other movies, but it’s a really well done rip off

 

[Big Miss Steak]

Spoiler

If he was just honest with Bear, none of this happens. If he just pointed him in Sarah's direction, none of this happens. If he at any point stopped trying to sabotage his friend and just was honest with him, none of this happens. If he just let Bear get rejected, none of this happens. He refused to let him confess though. He tried to sabotage their relationship when it does happen. Everything he does throughout the movie is self serving. He only checks out Nikki's dad because he's pissed off his bang maid is gone. He only tells Bear so they'll stop dating.

When that all fails though? What does he do? The real thing that gets me is when he starts telling Bear that he's TAKING ADVANTAGE of Nikki. It's pretty clear between the lines Ian went around to all of their mutual friends and pitched this skewed version of the story to them to make Bear look like a predator, which he was, but Ian didn't KNOW THAT at that point. When he doesn't get he wants, and he can't break them up, what does he do? He SABOTAGES THEM. What a fucking dickbag. Fuck, who needs enemies when they have friends like Ian? Hell, I don't buy that Ian didn't try to stick his dick in Sarah too. They're all clearly willing to lie to each other.

Spoiler

I'm going to be honest I was kind of checking out because I didn't like the movie, but I am pretty sure it was never confirmed that Nikki and Ian used to hook up. Sarah told Bear that they did a few times in the past, but doesn't Ian deny it? If it was true, yes he should have told Bear, but it doesn't mean his encouragement for Bear to express his feelings to Nikki wasn't well-meant advice. IDK how much time passes in the movie, maybe weeks? But when he calls Bear to say he thinks his relationship with Nikki is weird, it's because Sarah had told him that Nikki hated her dad and that Nikki had expressly said she only cared about Bear as a friend. Ian (and Sarah) were right to call Bear out for taking advantage of Nikki because he unequivocally was.

The friend group consisted of Sarah, Ian, Bear, and Nikki. Sarah is the one who got Ian thinking something odd was going on with the Bear/Nikki relationship. I'd hardly say Ian poisoned the friend group (consisting of just Sarah) against Bear. What's funny is there's no story Ian could have come up with that would be worse than what Bear was actually doing, lmao.

Every character (except maybe Nikki who isn't herself for 98% of the movie), has moments where they are totally justified and totally in the wrong.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

They've been massively overdone for a couple decades, and none of it early Romero tier. It's time we had a break for a while.

Fucking bullshit. The “none of it early Romero tier”

Yeah, the original trilogy are arguably the best zombie movies of all time (Day, then Night, then Dawn) but so many fucking great zombie movies have come out over the last three decades:

Shaun of the Dead
28 Days Later
REC 1/2
Train to Busan
Pontypool
One Cut of the Dead
The Battery
Dawn of the Dead 2004
Black Summer
The Night Eats the World
Dead Snow

Are all S-Tier horror movies regardless of genres, and there are dozens of A-Tier or solid B-tier zombie movies that have come out since 2000. If I went back a decade further, there would be another 10 or 12 A-tier zombie. Cemetery Man on top of them all.

 

[AnOminous]

Fucking bullshit. The “none of it early Romero tier”

Yeah, the original trilogy are arguably the best zombie movies of all time (Day, then Night, then Dawn) but so many fucking great zombie movies have come out over the last three decades:

28 Days Later

This is the only one I fully agree on.

Train to Busan

I'll give you this one because I've heard of but never seen, although I've intended to.

Dawn of the Dead 2004

Great action zombie movie but really isn't up to the original. A bit too Zack Snydery for my tastes. Still one of his better, maybe even best outings.

Dead Snow

Okay I'll give you this one too. This is awesome.

Are all S-Tier horror movies regardless of genres, and there are dozens of A-Tier or solid B-tier zombie movies that have come out since 2000. If I went back a decade further, there would be another 10 or 12 A-tier zombie. Cemetery Man on top of them all.

The '90s started just five years after the original Dead trilogy concluded.

 

[JeffreyMaxwell]

They've been massively overdone for a couple decades, and none of it early Romero tier. It's time we had a break for a while.

The problem isn't too many zombie movies, there's actually barely any. The problem is not enough well-done ones. Zombies are one of the best horror sub-genres when handled right, but it never seems like anyone can nail it. Way better than vampires (snobby aristocrat sex pests with fangs), in any case.

"The Dead" was a good one, set in Africa, with a diplomat and African soldier joining forces to drive across the country. Zombies were slow and menacing, no dinosaur screeches or super speed. Just slow, creeping death.

Perfect example, that World War Z movie. They should've made an anthology series on HBO, and followed the tone of the books. Instead they did CGI ant monster zombies and completely botched the book.

 

[Gamer Dan]

They've been massively overdone for a couple decades, and none of it early Romero tier. It's time we had a break for a whil

But plenty of demon possession or haunted house movies keep coming out. Also slashers are a hit or miss.

At least zombie movies give the protagonist a chance of fighting back

Shaun of the Dead
28 Days Later
REC 1/2
Train to Busan
Pontypool
One Cut of the Dead
The Battery
Dawn of the Dead 2004
Black Summer
The Night Eats the World
Dead Snow

Dead Snow was the one where that guy's genitals were bitten? Yeah that was a good movie.

What about Zombieland and Flight of the Living Dead?

 

[Alaska20k]

Fucking bullshit. The “none of it early Romero tier”

Yeah, the original trilogy are arguably the best zombie movies of all time (Day, then Night, then Dawn) but so many fucking great zombie movies have come out over the last three decades:

Shaun of the Dead
28 Days Later
REC 1/2
Train to Busan
Pontypool
One Cut of the Dead
The Battery
Dawn of the Dead 2004
Black Summer
The Night Eats the World
Dead Snow

Are all S-Tier horror movies regardless of genres, and there are dozens of A-Tier or solid B-tier zombie movies that have come out since 2000. If I went back a decade further, there would be another 10 or 12 A-tier zombie. Cemetery Man on top of them all.

The Night Eats the World and One Cut are GOATED

 

[AnOminous]

Dead Snow was the one where that guy's genitals were bitten? Yeah that was a good movie.

Yes, also probably the best "Nazi zombie" movie.

What about Zombieland and Flight of the Living Dead?

Had a great cameo from Bill Murray, and was pretty funny. Haven't seen the latter.

 

[Gamer Dan]

They've been massively overdone for a couple decades

Ok, but I have to ask;

Aren't demon possession/haunted house/slasher movies also overdone? Not all of them are good either.

 

[AnOminous]

Ok, but I have to ask;

Aren't demon possession/haunted house/slasher movies also overdone? Not all of them are good either.

I don't think there's ever really been enough of a fad in demon possession for it to be overdone. Slashers? Kind of. There are definitely more of those than zombie movies, but there also a lot more types of slasher film, even though they have the same repetitiousness problem.

The "let's do a slasher movie but have it be an artfag film" thing is definitely overdone.

 

[Fig Kommandant]

Aren't demon possession/haunted house/slasher movies also overdone? Not all of them are good either.

I think overdone is more about story beats than setting. A zombie movie I enjoy is Patient Zero, it's about a sentient zombie getting interrogated by doctors. Meanwhile most zombies movies are almost entirely the same story (familyman stuck in the early days of a zombie plague), the only variation is the speed and intellect of the zombies. Other horror genres regularly come up with different stories for the same monster.

 

[frozen_runner]

I saw Backrooms yesterday.

Because of who this movie is (allegedly) directed by, it's going to be unfairly criticized and also praised. I've already seen examples of both.

The truth is it's pretty solid though it has flaws. The weakest part is the script, especially its dialogue that doesn't exactly fit the age of the characters. I know someone else helped Parsons work on it, but it still feels like a 19 year old trying to write older adults as a purely intellectual exercise. It has somewhat relatable themes, but they don't feel exactly right. One of the major, general themes is alienation, but that doesn't explain the disconnect.

The characterizion is also pretty under cooked and needed more work.... we should care more about what happens to the characters. And to the degree that we do care, it's because of the actors. They have a lot of work to do given the script, and they do a decent job. I've heard people say Chiwetel Ejiofor is "so bad it's good" chewing scenery, and I don't think that's accurate. I think he's trying to make a thin script work, and maybe he isn't being given the direction he needs. He's fine. Renate Reinsve is probably better in her roll.

This is a high concept horror movie, so nobody is going to care too much about weak characters, especially not the target audience. What works is the intriguing central concept and how well it's fleshed out. Which isn't surprising given how long Parsons has been thinking about the idea.

And it's not an original concept, and I don't mean the gay, crowdsourced creepypasta aspect of it. You can see and sense influences from many other things... video games, movies, novels. I don't think Parsons has seen or experienced all of these things, but it's all clearly entered the collective unconscious. Some influences are obvious and conscious... there's one scene that's clearly a nod to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (or some degraded cultural copy of the scene it's referencing), but you wonder how intentional the other similarities are.

Anyway, it's well directed for the most part. The tone and visuals are the best part by far. Good cinematography. The soundtrack and sound design are excellent.

Verdict: I'm not sorry I went and saw it. It isn't entirely successful, but the successful aspects are surprisingly strong given who (allegedly) made it. But this will only be the best movie of the year for people Parsons's age. Still worth watching.

I expect a wave of "liminal space" or tonally similar, preexisting properties to be finally adapted, properties that originated some of the ideas this movie is inspired by. And we're also going to see a lot of bad YouTuber movies coming down the pike. Hopefully, some of them will be good.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Bruno’s fake death made this thread better because no one argued that the ultimate Romero ranking is Day, then Night, then Dawn.

 

[AbbaZabba]

Was Bruno a Dawn-head? Correct ratings, regardless. Dawn is a bit too overlong at times, especially the extended cuts.

 

[Alaska20k]

Bruno’s fake death made this thread better because no one argued that the ultimate Romero ranking is Day, then Night, then Dawn.

He’s still alive?