Happy Halloween: Favorite Horror Movies!

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Villavic

And William Friedkind said "It's just a stupid mess made by a dumb guy".

I could be wrong because Friedkin sometimes says silly things in Hollywoodese, but I find it hard to believe he would say that about John Boorman, director of Point Blank and Deliverance. John Boorman is a giant.

There’s lots to say about what’s great about Exorcist II. But at a high-level it’s just one of the rare works of genuine visionary mysticism in film, much less Hollywood film. Its concept of The Wings of Pazuzu is a timeless idea about how evil really works in society (armed with this concept, one can enter many even greater works of art like Altman’s Short Cuts). Equally the idea of the Good Locust is profound from a filmmaker expert in Arthurian legend.

Visually, the film is amazing: the glass cells expressing layers of consciousness (very Jungian), the graphic matches (Linda Blair drawing/Linda Blair dreaming) and psychic editing (Linda Blair tap dancing), the African dreamscapes, the apocalyptic climax. This is the essence of cinema—restoring silent movie aesthetics and enchantment.

From a Ledgie perspective, I intuit a not-fleshed-out connection between the appeal of Stevie Nicks’s “dreams” on the phenomenon of Rumours in 1977 and the rejection of Linda Blair’s Good Locust in 1977 (they look remarkably similarly pretty). Great artists tapping into the zeitgeist, addressing some primal need with primal myths, but one is palatable, the other rejected. One grooves within a popular idiom, the other embarrasses in its radical earnestness (and some undeniable flaws insignificant next to its achievements). A case for further study.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by TrueFaith77

I could be wrong because Friedkin sometimes says silly things in Hollywoodese, but I find it hard to believe he would say that about John Boorman, director of Point Blank and Deliverance. John Boorman is a giant.

According to Wikipedia (I know, not always 100% reliable) the source is in McCabe, Bob (2000). The Exorcist: Out of the Shadows. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-71197-509-5. The whole quote was:

Friedkin saw half an hour of the film: "I was at Technicolor and a guy said 'We just finished a print of Exorcist II, do you wanna have a look at it?' And I looked at half an hour of it and I thought it was as bad as seeing a traffic accident in the street. It was horrible. It's just a stupid mess made by a dumb guy – John Boorman by name, somebody who should be nameless, but in this case should be named. Scurrilous. A horrible picture".

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by Villavic

According to Wikipedia (I know, not always 100% reliable) the source is in McCabe, Bob (2000). The Exorcist: Out of the Shadows. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-71197-509-5. The whole quote was:

It's just a stupid mess made by a dumb guy – John Boorman by name, somebody who should be nameless, but in this case should be named. Scurrilous. A horrible picture".

Thank you for confirming that Friedkin is as petty as he is a terrible filmmaker lol

[blinker12]

My Top 10, pretty close to in order:

The Birds (1963)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Trilogy of Terror - “Amelia” segment (1975)
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Get Out (2017)
It Follows (2014)
The Funhouse (1981)
The Wolf Man (1941)

Honorable mentions: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Woman in Black (1989), It (2017), Drag Me To Hell (2009), Dracula (1958), The House of the Devil (2009), the Annabelle series for pure kitsch value.

[DownOnRodeo]

Daphne du Maurier's stories seem to be getting a good representation in these lists. For those who find a spooky story just as good as a spooky movie, you could try seeking out the original short stories of The Birds and Don't Look Now by du Maurier (or any of her work). Those last few paragraphs of Don't Look Now...

Drag Me To Hell was such a hoot. Love it.

The Ring (US remake) was the scariest thing I ever saw in a cinema as an adult. Samara may as well have been crawling out of the cinema screen.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by blinker12

My Top 10, pretty close to in order:

The Birds (1963)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Trilogy of Terror - “Amanda” segment (1975)
The Orphanage (2007)
Carnival of Souls (1962)
Get Out (2017)
It Follows (2014)
The Funhouse (1981)
The Wolf Man (1941)

Honorable mentions: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Woman in Black (1989), It (2017), Drag Me To Hell (2009), Dracula (1958), The House of the Devil (2009), the Annabelle series for pure kitsch value.

Trilogy of Terror is a good pick. To this day my sister who is in her 50s is terrified of watching it as a child. In the mid 70s we were toddlers and watched it on TV. To this day it still has an impact on her. I would always slide a knife under her bedroom door to scare her as a kid.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I would always slide a knife under her bedroom door to scare her as a kid.

Why do I not have a difficult time imagining this?

I'm surprised you weren't looping Oh Daddy and sliding nude pics of Mick under the door. Now THAT would be terrifying!