what's your favorite scary movie?

[jokabofe]

anyone who looks at my dvd collection will be able to see that i'm a hardcore horror junkie. i like all kinds of horror films, from the golden age classics like frankenstein, dracula, and the wolfman, to the silver age films like american werewolf in london, halloween, friday the 13th, etc. i'm a fan of just about every sub-genre of horror - slashers, monsters, aliens, mutants, zombies, vampires... it doesn't matter.

for more modern horror, i've been turning to the japanese market for the past several years, as all the good stuff seems to come from there. the ju-on series (soon to be re-made for an american audience, starring sarah michelle gellar - ugh),  ringu (not that p.o.s. re-made for america), the tomie series... i could go on and on.

but if i had to narrow it down to one film, one single film that scared the bejesus out of me so bad that i'll never forget it, it would have to be the exorcist. i remember seeing it when i was fairly young one night when the parents weren't home, and being completely freaked out. i was about 6 or so, and the images have stayed with me since. of course, i've seen it again and again since then as well, but i'll always remember the first time.

even if you're not a fan of the horror genre, you have to have a favorite scary movie... what is it?

[DSJ™]

I rented Poltergeist when it came out, took it over to my friends place to watch & during one quiet time in the movie we all looked at the coo-coo clock on the wall. The ticking got to us & we had to stop the clock.

Ever since that movie, I hate clowns with teeth & that backyard tree drove me nuts!

When Alien was released, the theater has stern warnings about the it being scary & the gore. After the Alien chest bursting scene, I had to take a leak real bad & there were people in the lobby having a smoke & just shaking.

I shook my head & I was laughing inside, I thought that scene was pretty cool.  

[Rob]

I can't agree with you more that all the good stuff seems to be coming from Japan nowadays.  I've only recently gotten into that stuff and have only see a few like Audition, Ju-on, and The Eye - but my friend is letting me borrow his slowly but surely - I just don't have an all region player yet.

Modern?  Well, there are a million, but the Shining was always one of my favorites...

[Force Guy]

Good topic.  I'm a big fan of the horror/suspense genre.  My all-time favorite scary movie is Halloween.  I snuck into the theater (with my sister) and watched it its opening weekend when I was a kid.  The downside to that experience is that I had nightmares for two weeks.  

Exorcist and Exorcist III are great, too.  I'm not really a fan of older horror movies (especially if they're black & white), but there's a few exceptions (The Creature From the Black Lagoon, Nosferatu, and The Fly).  

[jokabofe]

I can't agree with you more that all the good stuff seems to be coming from Japan nowadays.  I've only recently gotten into that stuff and have only see a few like Audition, Ju-on, and The Eye - but my friend is letting me borrow his slowly but surely - I just don't have an all region player yet.

Modern?  Well, there are a million, but the Shining was always one of my favorites...

now, which of the ju-on films have you seen. there are 4 altogether, and every one of them is great. from what i understand, there were two made for tv films, and then they were re-made for theatrical release over there. i've seen all 4, and there are some similarities, but it's not like a direct remake. i would check out all 4.

they also just released the sequel to the eye as well, check that one out. more of a "rosemary's baby" type film, where the main character is preganant while trying to commit suicide, and that near death experience enables her to see the ghosts of the dead. pretty good film.

audition is another great film. you can't go wrong with anything by takashi miike.

picking up an all region player was the best thing i ever did. you can get one pretty cheap nowadays - mine was only $50. it'll probably be broken in a matter of weeks, but for $50 who cares, i'll buy another. and alot of these films are now being released here in a region 1 or even region 0 format, so really having an all region player isn't that essential anymore. not to mention that there are plenty of places that you can find some of these unreleased movies online for free.

you can most likely find some of the more "mainstream" ones at blockbuster of all places. they have films like "cure", "audition", "st. john's wort", and just about all of the "tomie" series of films at my local bb. check out the tomie series as well - those are pretty good.

[jokabofe]

Exorcist and Exorcist III are great, too.  I'm not really a fan of older horror movies (especially if they're black & white), but there's a few exceptions (The Creature From the Black Lagoon, Nosferatu, and The Fly).  

yeah, and the new exorcist flick looks like it should be pretty good as well.

*crosses fingers*

[Famine]

28 Days Later.


Let the heat come at me now.


Kevin

[Rob]

now, which of the ju-on films have you seen. there are 4 altogether, and every one of them is great. from what i understand, there were two made for tv films, and then they were re-made for theatrical release over there. i've seen all 4, and there are some similarities, but it's not like a direct remake. i would check out all 4.

I believe it was the first one, it was definitely one of the ones that was originally made for TV and is also the one that is about to be re-released in America soon.  

The next Japanese films on my list are Ichi the Killer, Versus, and the two Battle Royale movies which I've got no excuse for not having seen yet.

My buddy says that the Tomie stuff is no good - I was about to just pick one up for kicks at best buy a few weeks ago and he insisted that I not waste my money.

And Force Guy - Halloween is my favorite of all of the American killer genre films (Freddy, Jason, etc...)  Still waiting for the DVD Boxed set....

[Famine]

The Friday the Thirteenth series is exciting.

Kevin

[jokabofe]

hey kbz - check out this site for some great reviews of japanese films. it doesn't just stick to horror, it pretty much reviews japanese cinema in general, but a lot of it is horror. great site.

[jokabofe]

there's also a pretty cool interview with takashi shimizu - the director of the ju-on films - where he talks a little about the originals and some about the remake. check it out here. it's a video btw.

[Rob]

Thanks for those links - I'm going to check them out tomorrow.  One of the things I really need to get into Japanese horror (and film in general) a little more is a few websites that have good information on what's worth seeing and what's crap.  Then I have to figure out where to get the stuff without it costing 30 or 40$ per dvd.

[Scott]

Man, I gotta go with The Exorcist with a nod to the movie where Kathy Bates had a nude scene

Demonic possession is sort of freaky and they pulled it off smashingly, sort of interested to see how that Prequel turns out

[jokabofe]

recently i've found quite a few ebay auctions for some of these japanese "imports", shall we say, for $10 - $12 or less. i've dealt with a few different dealers, i can give you the screen names/id's if you want. great service, reasonable shipping charges (one of my pet peeves is when people sell you stuff cheap on ebay and then gouge you on shipping. last year i bought  4 dvd's off a guy who charged me $16 for shipping. and when the package arrived? $2.25 stamp on a padded envelope. that motherfu.... ).

there are plenty of sites that review/preview horror titles. i'll get some links together for you tomorrow.

[Rob]

That would be great.  Thanks!

OCB, I heard the other day that the new Exorcist got an NC-17 rating - word is also that they are going to try to edit it for the theatrical release to try to get it down to R.  

Which means, once again - we've got to wait for the DVD before we'll know (assuming this is true).  Either way, the trailers definitely look like it might be good.

I like to think some of the old horror movies are making a comeback in a better way...after the debacle of Jason X and a million other crappy recent horror movies like it, I thought they did a much better job with the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre and even Freddy vs. Jason was better than I expected.  I'm hoping this continues with the new Exorcist - I think they're starting to realize there's a huge market for well done horror movies - even if they're remakes or prequels or what not, but that the crappy ones will always flop.  Of course, up next, Seed of Chucky - which I have low expectations for.