View Single Post
  #4  
Old 02-17-2008, 12:59 AM
_____V_____'s Avatar
_____V_____ _____V_____ is offline
For Vendetta
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 31,677
American Gothic/ Surreal Horror


Carnival of Souls (1962)



"A young woman, Mary, is in a car crash at the beginning of this film. She appears to be the only survivor, and she is now haunted by an apparition of a mysterious evil looking man. After the crash she tries to go on with her life, but she has trouble relating to people. She lands a job as a church organist but loses the job after the minister witnesses her orgiastic bout of almost demonic music. Throughout the film she's drawn to a deserted amusement park where she sees ghoulish figures. She loses her grip on reality more and more, as she sees these figures with increasing regularity. Finally, visiting the deserted pavilion once more, she joins the world of the apparitions and we learn an astonishing secret...which is one of the biggest twists in this cult classic!" - Neverending


In The Mouth of Madness (1995)



"In the Mouth of Madness is far more intelligent and creepy than it is often given credit for; its an intriguing film that actually stuck with me long after I shut off the television. Of all of Carpenter's films, this one may be his most underrated.
Inspired by the tales of H.P Lovecraft, the atmosphere is spot on, the imagery is disturbing, and the film does an excellent job of blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. Its like watching a nightmare unfold; you just aren't quite sure when reality ends and the nightmare begins. The casting of Sam Neil as an insurance investigator investigating the disappearance of hugely successful horror novelist Sutter Cane is perfect. I have rarely seen him better. In many ways, the script is a rather twisted love letter to horror literature, which manages to stir and terrify us with words and imagination." - Jenna26


Jacob's Ladder (1990)



"In this under-appreciated acid trip of a film, we follow Tim Robbins as Jacob Singer, a Vietnam war vet who begins to experience violent, demonic hallucinations.
Immersing us in a subjective reality, Jacob's Ladder forces us to witness the same horrible world as Jacob, leaving little room to catch your breath. It's only too soon that you realize that each terrifying image, each nightmarish hallucination, and each cruel reality (although it becomes increasingly hard to separate them) served to set you up and knock you down, reeling in a final revelation. If you haven't seen it yet, make it a priority, and prepare to peel back the many layers of Jacob's Ladder." - Fortunato


Session 9 (2001)



"Session 9 is a horror film that has subtlety down to an art form. while slow-paced, this recent addition to the genre features plenty of intense scares.
When a group of Hazmat workers are hired to clear asbestos out of an abandoned insane asylum, they find much more than that. as they're pulled into the asylum's terrifying and mysterious past, and you, the viewer, are sucked in along with them. And in a slow crescendo, the horror escalates into a dizzying conclusion that will stick in your head long after the film is over!" - Fortunato


Videodrome (1983)



"When Cronenberg puts his mind to something, well, you know what happens. This time, it's the good old boob tube and it's related media.
In Videodrome, Max Renn, a sleazy TV producer, stumbles upon a rogue broadcast featuring murder, torture, and all sorts of unpleasant things. A journey of acquisition ensues - with Max wanting the rights to air Videodrome as the "next big thing," while his sadomasochistic girlfriend Nicki travels to audition for it.
This journey decays into a mess of psychosis, murder, and tummy-vaginas (among other things) as the people behind Videodrome try to turn Max into their biological weapon against the media masses. By the last line, your mind is left a steaming pile of mush, and you are marked, wondering exactly what it is you just witnessed." - Fortunato


Honorable Mentions:

Blue Velvet (1986)

"As many authors point out, the journey into adulthood is a scary one. Stephen King reveals it to be a place full of carnivorous clowns, dead bodies and vengeful rednecks. James Joyce shows it to be existential thin ice where dreams of hell coincide with beautiful epiphanies and night journeys into whorehouses.
Blue Velvet is a young man's journey into adulthood and into the underbelly of suburban America. Lynch examined urban madness sublimely in Eraserhead and dissects the suburbs in Blue Velvet. The great surrealist turns into a twisted chimera of Abel Ferrara and William Faulkner for this small town gothic. Jeffrey, the film's protagonist must face off with Dennis Hopper's Frank, an adult with adolescent bravado and infantile sexuality to claim his own adulthood. This world of dive bars, hiding in closets and fake policemen coincides with falling in love with the young innocent blonde that offers a chance at a normal life. Jeffrey braves the underworld, claims the girl and yet, there is something just as sinister at the other side of all of his travails.
A great mystery, a great noir, a great coming of age movie with moments of chilling horror, perverse eroticism and exquisite acting." - Doc Faustus


Repulsion (1965)
__________________
"If you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Last edited by _____V_____; 03-11-2008 at 07:52 PM.
Reply With Quote