PTA + Horror

Started by adolfwolfli, July 07, 2003, 08:01:55 AM

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

TheVoiceOfNick

I thought the Ring was scary as hell... and if you have a chance, see the original version called Ringu. I think I would find something to like in any of PTA's future movies... unless he goes commercial and tries to make T4 (<--- inside reference to the T3 thread in "Now Showing")... and even then i'd probably be like "not bad"!!! Seriously though... PTA has a certain sensibility and approach to movies that would make any of this movies likable, as long as you enjoy at least a couple of the existing ones.


Nick

Jeremy Blackman

Quote from: ebeamanAlthough there were a lot of critics and fans that called PDL "scary"...me being one of them.

It's definitely a scary movie, if not science fiction...

I hope his horror movie would be similar to 28 days. Sincere, with raw emotion, as always...

fulty

Quote from: Ghoulardi GoonI watched The Shining on a friend's 40" screen and that was as close to fucking scary as I've gotten so far.
Oh, yeah..!!
I saw this on a first date.
She got so scared she started holding my arm....squeezing my arm....really tight.  She was trying to crawl behind me..!!
I'm like, what?  You think I can protect you from that crazy axe swinger?
But ever since then, I kinda like getting scared.

I'd like to see the PTA top that one.
Tinapop  

I used to be smart.... now I'm just stupid.

bonanzataz

Quote from: TheVoiceOfNickI thought the Ring was scary as hell... and if you have a chance, see the original version called Ringu.

i hated ring. i really hated ring. the ONLY part that even remotely scared me was the part where they show the dead girl in the closet and that was a cheap scare (but don't get me wrong, i LOVE cheap scares. that was my favorite part of the ring because i ACTUALLY got a bit creeped out). never saw ringu, but i probably never will, because really. a videotape that kills annoying shits like naomi watts' character, her fucking dipshit boyfriend, and her stupidly characterized little boy... OOOOH SPOOKY!!! gimme a break.
The corpses all hang headless and limp bodies with no surprises and the blood drains down like devil's rain we'll bathe tonight I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls Demon I am and face I peel to see your skin turned inside out, 'cause gotta have you on my wall gotta have you on my wall, 'cause I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls collect the heads of little girls and put 'em on my wall hack the heads off little girls and put 'em on my wall I want your skulls I need your skulls I want your skulls I need your skulls

Sal

The good thing about those cheap scares is they really isolate you in the theater.  You're watching something, everything's comfortable, and the next minute you're kind of edgy about what you just saw, like the girl in the closet.  That really fucked me up, so subsequent scenes should have taken advantage of that and pushed the fright further.  I like to compare that to electrical jolts you get when your hand is full of static electricity and you touch a doorknob.  Everytime after you try touching one, you flinch, or you prepare for it, altering your perception.  I think with horror films nowadays, because audiences are such smartasses and actually make an attempt to defy being frightening instead of embracing that emotion to make the experience more worthwhile, horror films will need to use that cinematic technique to amplify the engagement of the story and suspense.  That's what I'll do anyway, if I can get around to ever making a horror flick.  :)

Sleuth

Quote from: SalI think with horror films nowadays, because audiences are such smartasses and actually make an attempt to defy being frightening instead of embracing that emotion to make the experience more worthwhile, horror films will need to use that cinematic technique to amplify the engagement of the story and suspense.  That's what I'll do anyway, if I can get around to ever making a horror flick.  :)

yesssssssss I love you
I like to hug dogs

brockly

Quote from: tremolosloth
Quote from: SalI think with horror films nowadays, because audiences are such smartasses and actually make an attempt to defy being frightening instead of embracing that emotion to make the experience more worthwhile, horror films will need to use that cinematic technique to amplify the engagement of the story and suspense.  That's what I'll do anyway, if I can get around to ever making a horror flick.  :)

yesssssssss I love you

??? riigghht

Sleuth

Why would you say that

I hate when people go "riiiight" that's so fucking stupid sounding

I hate you now
I like to hug dogs

Keener

We need more Shining-esque horror films. It'd be cool to see.
Alabama Film Forum
Uniting film lovers and filmmakers of Alabama

Sleuth

I always imagine The Shining when people talk about PTA+Horror
I like to hug dogs

Keener

On the subject of The Ring, I really, really hated it. The acting was probably the worst aspect of it. Then again, I liked The Mexican so what do I know ?
Alabama Film Forum
Uniting film lovers and filmmakers of Alabama

oakmanc234

I just saw 'The Ring' last night. I gotta admit that I was pretty intimidated by that flick. I watched it by myself in an empty house, so, I was pretty shit nervous at times. It felt great. I liked it. I haven't been scared of a film in a looooong time. I wish someone could erase the film from my memory so I could watch it scared again. That flick will never be scary to me again (cause I'll know what happens), its one of those 'one time only' experiences, I think.

Though I liked seeing a quality horror flick, I still wouldn't want a PTA one.
'Welcome the Thunderdome, bitch'

adolfwolfli

Quote from: tremoloslothI always imagine The Shining when people talk about PTA+Horror

I don't know how big a fan of Kubrick PT is; I always read and hear interviews where he mentions Scorcese, Demma and Altman, and PDL was compared to Blake Edwards and Jaques Tati, among otheres - BUT - there were elements of Punch Drunk Love that were SO Kubrick that if PT wasn't deliberately thinking Stanley, he was at least subconsciously thinking Stanley...

I am thinking of the camera shined into the raw practical bulbs (ala Clockwork Orange); the use of stark, white, clinical spaces (Clockwork, Shining, 2001); the slow, creeping, symmetrical Steadicam shots of hallways and corridors (all of Kubrick).  The latter is most examplified by the scene in Hawaii where Barry is sitting in the indoor, glassed-in phone booth and makes a call to D&D Mattress man and leaves a message; the scene starts outside the room as a symmetrical composition and the camera creeps in ever-so-slowly into the room and settles on Barry.

These are all visual comparisons, but on another level, the absurdity and dark humor of PDL was very Kubrick.  If Stanley were alive, he would have LOVED PDL, I am sure of it.

Did Kubrick pop into anybody else's mind while watching PDL?

It's almost as if Hard Eight / Sydney was PTA's Mamet; Boogie was his Scorcese; Magnolia was his Altman; and PDL was his Kubrick.  

Not that I think PTA is a rip-off artist in any way.  All of these movies are wholly unique and special.  I once got into an argument with a co-worker about PT - he was accusing PT of making "movies about movies".  While there is a small bit of truth to this, I really wondered if this person had watched the movies and let himself be swept up and actually FEEL something.  There is tremendous depth to these films that transcends whatever homages there are to other directors.

chainsmoking insomniac

You're on to something man.

PTA is a Kubrick fan.  He visited the set of Eyes Wide Shut on at least one occasion.  :wink:
"Ernest Hemingway once wrote: 'The world's a fine place, and worth fighting for.'  I agree with the second part."
    --Morgan Freeman, Se7en

"Have you ever fucking seen that...? Ever seen a mistake in nature?  Have you ever seen an animal make a mistake?"
 --Paul Schneider, All the Real Girls

TheVoiceOfNick

Quote from: adolfwolfliIt's almost as if Hard Eight / Sydney was PTA's Mamet; Boogie was his Scorcese; Magnolia was his Altman; and PDL was his Kubrick.  


You're exactly right. If he does a horror flick, it'll be his Craven.


Nick