Nightmare USA Films Discussion Thread

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Make Them Die Slowly

I like the idea of modern films blatantly ripping off the latest big money maker or endlessly churning out the same old shit. It is exploitation cinema in one of it's more pure forms. I personally prefer 60s and 70s guff to the modern stuff but there are plenty of gems out there if you are willing to play supermarket cheapo dvd roulette....

Indeed, this is true.

However due to the sheer quantity and therefore larger volume of dreck per cubic inch, instead of you holding a six-shooter with one bullet, it's more like a gatlin gun with a few thousand rounds.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I think your being a bit sniffy there Nos.

Once Hitchcock released Psycho then nothing in the slasher genre for example was original.

The same goes for Plague of the Zombies, once they climbed out of their graves every other zombie film was suddenly half inching that idea.

It must be terribly difficult to come up with an original horror idea today. The genre's been about since the first Gothic horror novel in 1764.

The Italians churned out so much crap on top of the great films of the era, i think that tends to be forgotten. Take the spaghetti western. For every Django there's forty near worthless, uninspired riffs on the idea.

Although it is increasingly difficult to come up with an original idea, it's not impossible. The first Paranormal Activity was fairly original, even though the found footage idea was not, something reflected in the box office takings and mass fan appeal.

Ti West has bucked the trend a couple of times, making slow burning psychological horrors, and the films from Spain, such as Julia's Eyes, The Orphanage, Pan's Labyrinth (and Guillermo Del Toro's other genre films) definitely stand out from the crowd.

The 1970s were far from perfect, with numerous Exorcist-knockoffs appearing in the wake of the huge box office and critical success of William Friedkin's masterpiece, but auteurs like Wes Craven and George Romero appeared with films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes and Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead (each with something new and unique to say). You also had Sam Raimi rocking the system with The Evil Dead and, before then, Herschel Gordon Lewis used exploitation to find his voice.

I realise there are only so many stories which can be told, but the number of films and filmmakers finding interesting things to say seems to be dwindling. Maybe it isn't like that and I'm just feeling a bit jaded today!

[BAKA]

I think sometimes you have to sift through the dreck and get yourself a little dirty. You can't always rely that others will find and nurture the reputation of the gems that get overlooked. I recently watched Death By Invitation, a movie that seems to have a vast array of low ratings at many an aggregate based site, but I found myself completely rapt. Despite meager production values and a few diabolical actors, it's a captivating slow burner, filled with cult charm, that's likely been overlooked by those looking for something more immediate or obvious.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Equinox (1970)

Equinox is a curious little film, which shares more than a few similarities with its 11 year junior The Evil Dead.

Two couples take a road trip into the woods one day to have a picnic with the intention of meeting up with a professor friend. They arrive to find the professor's cabin has been crushed and that there is no sign of him. Exploring the area for clues leads the quartet to stumble across an insane old man living in a cave who hands them an old book - which just happens to be The Necronomicon (or a variation of)...

As you can expect, the book is opened and passages recited which conjures up all manner of beasts - all of which are depicted via wonderful stop-motion model effects. It is here where the film really shines as our quartet of teens are assaulted from all angles by otherworldly creatures having also to contend with strange invisible barriers and a park ranger who isn't all he seems to be.

The film's main failing lies in its narrative structure which unfortunately takes the form of the sole survivor recanting the tale of what happened on the ill-fated picnic via flashback sequences to a psychiatrist. This device in many ways takes a large chunk of the mystery away from the tale and instead of building suspense and the viewer working towards who will live and who will die, this has all been neatly resolved for you in the first ten minutes. However, the ending does at least provide a little counteractive nudge more towards the mysterious, albeit if not entirely unexpected.

Overall, despite its low budget trappings, Equinox is highly enjoyable, both as a dark magic fueled tale of the supernatural and as a precursor to the raw and atmospheric The Evil Dead.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I quite like the sound of Equinox.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I quite like the sound of Equinox.

It's definitely worth checking out, and was a pleasant surprise in as much as I was expecting a lot less than what I got.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

The Evil (1978)

Overall, The Evil is a pretty formulaic haunted house flick in as much as we have a psychologist and his group of co-workers trapped inside an old mansion courtesy of a malevolent force of some kind.

Supernatural events start to occur gradually increasing in frequency and severity, in turn tormenting the various bell-bottom trouser sporting cast members, all of which leads to some creative kills and spills (and a spectral sexual assault) along the way.

However, the final act tilts more towards the bat-shit insane end of the paranormal scale, as our resident supernatural entity grows tired of playing little ghastly games in favour of revealing themselves and inflicting some truly torturous terror on the remaining members of the cast.

Evil by name, evil by nature indeed.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Fatal Games (1984)

Fatal Games falls somewhere within 'medium tier' slasher territory for me, as a crazed killer is stalking and bumping off a group of teenage Olympic hopefuls; a javelin being their weapon of choice.

Whilst he javelin aspect allows for a few creative (and unique) kills, the film is a little light on tension overall, instead deciding to concentrate more on the trials and tribulations of the teen athletes, their pushy over-bearing coaches, inter-teen fornication and horseplay, and a side plot involving performance enhancing drugs.

Despite not guessing who the killer was, I certainly guessed how they would meet their end due to the set piece in question being meticulously and deliberately set up in such a way you couldn't help but know what was coming.

When the revealing of the killer does finally come, it all feels a little rushed. Plus, as mentioned above, due to suspecting how they will perish, a little anti-climactic too.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by bizarre_eye@Cult Labs

Fatal Games (1984)

That has to be the most boring slasher poster ever.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

That has to be the most boring slasher poster ever.

Not quite...