Dario Argento and others thrillers/horror movies directors

[Guillaume]

After FULL CIRCLE another tale of loss, dead people and past haunting the present and the living with WAKING THE DEAD, a beautiful, sensitive, heartfelt, haunting "ghost story" between love story and politics...wonderfully acted by Jennifer Connelly and Billy Crudup with a cool soundtrack (Tomandandy, Lori Carson, Joni Mitchell, Peter Gabriel) by director Keith Gordon (yes, the lead actor of CHRISTINE, also seen in JAWS 2 and DRESSED TO KILL)...warmly recommended for those who love romantic tales, beautiful moving love/ghost stories...and now available on blu ray:

 

[Master Ray]

Oh, I vaguely remember that one, think I only saw it the once back in the 90's.  Must rectify that.  Also, I think I've said this before, but Jennifer Connolly... the most beautiful woman who ever lived?      

I seem to remember Mr Gordan directed a great film called STATIC, another one I should revisit....

[cthulhu]

Thanks for the recommendation Guillaume, seems to be another good one to watch.

I was about to recommend some Peter Weir stuff here, after all the Rubber and The Car things going on, so i thought you all, if you haven't already, should go and watch: The Cars that ate Paris, but right now i'm tooo drunk and lazy to write more about it and put some pictures in it, so go and watch it!!

[Guillaume]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xUMbjJhf1I

I think I've said this before, but Jennifer Connolly... the most beautiful woman who ever lived?      

She is, indeed!
She is wonderful in WAKING THE DEAD, easily one of her best performances and characters...too often she acted in not so good movies and/or uninteresting characters, but here she is great, i would say that it's her best performance. I also liked her very much in HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG, PHENOMENA and even DARK WATER (that movie wasn't so good but Connelly was good in it).
Also Billy Crudup, underrated actor, is awesome in WAKING THE DEAD, he should have been nominated for the academy awards with some heartbreaking moments in the film.

I seem to remember Mr Gordan directed a great film called STATIC, another one I should revisit....

I'm not sure he directed it? but he was the main actor and wrote the screenplay if i remember well. He directed an interesting strange war film (A MIDNIGHT CLEAR starring Ethan Hawke, Peter Berg, Gary Sinise), also MOTHER NIGHT and THE CHOCOLATE WAR.


 

Thanks for the recommendation Guillaume, seems to be another good one to watch.

Yes, watch it, you won't regret it!
It's beautifully acted, affecting movie...if FULL CIRCLE was perfect for autumn moods WAKING THE DEAD is a winter tale for the romantics! 

if you haven't already, should go and watch: The Cars that ate Paris

I haven't watched this one in years...i like very much Peter Weir's films...PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE MOSQUITO COAST, WITNESS, GALLIPOLI, FEARLESS, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, THE TRUMAN SHOW...brillant and still underrated director.

[cthulhu]

.i like very much Peter Weir's films...PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE MOSQUITO COAST, WITNESS, GALLIPOLI, FEARLESS, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, THE TRUMAN SHOW...brillant and still underrated director.

I think he is! Such a variety of themes and all of them i did see, were perfectly directed. Don't forget Master & Commander!
I'm very interested in Gallipolli, haven't seen that yet, but i want to find a bluray version of it.

Also The Last Wave is a very special movie.
"A worthy successor to PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK in as much as the viewer is left with his or her own interpretation of what they have just seen. Events occuring in an everyday environment but where the line between fantasy and reality is so blurred, no lens can be found to bring up a sharp focus. It is a disturbing film which highlights and pays homage to the Aboriginal dreamtime."

[Guillaume]

.i like very much Peter Weir's films...PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, THE MOSQUITO COAST, WITNESS, GALLIPOLI, FEARLESS, DEAD POETS SOCIETY, THE TRUMAN SHOW...brillant and still underrated director.

I think he is! Such a variety of themes and all of them i did see, were perfectly directed. Don't forget Master & Commander

"The last wave" of course! Also his last movie "the way back" was good...unfortunately Weir hasn't directed a movie since 2010...

[Master Ray]

So, I gave the hugely acclaimed 'Midsommar' a go the other night, from Ari Aster, whose previous horror flick 'Hereditary' was a big hit.  Now, I liked it very much but thought it was desperately slow and overlong in places... which is my own bloody fault because I realised afterwards that I'd downloaded The Directors Cut, which added nearly half an hour (of what, research has shown, was mainly non-plot related character stuff) to an already two and a half hour flick, so I expect the normal version would be better paced.  Trailer below before I go on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vnghdsjmd0

'The Wicker Man meets Hostel', judging by the trailer, but it's a lot deeper and darker than that.  Don't want to say anymore than that for fear of spoilers, but it's hugely creepy and well made with terrific performances (Florence Pugh, best young UK actress of the moment?) and some proper shocking moments.  Great soundtrack too.  Probably my favourite horror film of the year, be interested to what my fellow horror fans thought of it.

[Guillaume]

So, I gave the hugely acclaimed 'Midsommar' a go the other night, from Ari Aster, whose previous horror flick 'Hereditary' was a big hit.  Now, I liked it very much but thought it was desperately slow and overlong in places...

I've watched it in theaters and i already thought it was desperately slow and overlong in places...

[Master Ray]

So, I gave the hugely acclaimed 'Midsommar' a go the other night, from Ari Aster, whose previous horror flick 'Hereditary' was a big hit.  Now, I liked it very much but thought it was desperately slow and overlong in places...

I've watched it in theaters and i already thought it was desperately slow and overlong in places...

Ha!  Oh well... I still think it was a decent horror flick.

Just goes to show how 'Directors Cuts' aren't necessarily a good thing... I love 'Cinema Paradiso' in its original version but the DC annoyed me... I'm sure you have your own equivalent.

[cthulhu]

I re-watched "The Mist" by Frank Darabont and if you haven't seen this, you should!

This is after a Stephen King story and it works great. Darabont did also "The Green Mile" and "The Shawshank Redemption", both very good movies. I cannot say how the screenply adaption is in comparison to the Books by King and i haven't read The Mist, but the movie is brilliant.

It is even so good, that i could easily forgive some real bad CGI there, but in those scenes the acting is good and they are combined with some practical effects. Anyway, like in all the good Stephen King storys the horror does not come from the monsters, but the humans. And here everything works so well. It's full of cliches and one dimensional characters, but Darabont and Kind use that to portray group dynamics in extreme situations and everything there happening is plausible and soon you begin to feel fear because you know the stupidity of humans and how they will loose all civilized behavior when they/we are frightened...(fear is the only enemy that i still know...)

And it has one of the best endings ever!


And for those who have Netflix, i highly recommend DARK.
I skipped this one for a long time and had some prejudice about it, because it's a german production. German and Genre jus don't fit. I thought they were just jumping on the let's go back to the 80's Stranger Things thing....but this is totally different. And it is german in th ebest way and so different from hollywood style. This series is so good filmed and atmospheric and develops an unususal time-travelling story. Unknown actors who are all very good and the story makes use of the time travell paradox and asks some philosophical questions. It has a marvellous soundtrack, makes very good use of the music from that time and every song played there has something to say about the story also. I'm really surprised about this how good that is. I should work on my prejudices..;-)

[Master Ray]

Haven't seem DARK, I'll check it out before my last month on Netflix runs out (I tend to have Netflix for a few months and then cancel it for a while, not enough interesting content to keep me permanantly paying for it).

The Mist is, indeed, excellent, I seem to remember there's a special edition in black and white available...

[cthulhu]

A friend told me that DARK is conceived as a three season series and the third season will only come 2020.

The b/w version of The Mist is on the bluray. Darabont is introducing it and talking about how much he would like to have done it that way, but the studio wouldn't let him and of course most people wouldn't go for a b/w picture. But nowadays you can shoot in colour and then just take out all colours afterwards. Kind of like "The Desaturating Seven" attacked your movie..;-)
PRIMUS - The Desaturating Seven
Haven't seen it in b/w yet, but i will.

[Guillaume]

I re-watched "The Mist" by Frank Darabont and if you haven't seen this, you should!

And it has one of the best endings ever!

Yes! First time i watched it (unfortunately not on the big screen because it was a very limited theatrical release here) i found the film especially the last part quite powerful...and the use of Dead Can Dance's song enhances the power of the ending!

[King_D]

Difficult to name my fav horror movies...so many...
I really like Rob Zombie movies !

[cthulhu]

Difficult to name my fav horror movies...so many...
I really like Rob Zombie movies !

He has some skills! One of my favourite horror movies is The Devil's Rejects and his House of 1000 Corpses brought back my interest in the genre, which i kind of lost during the late 90's. I was a collector of Fangoria and Gorezone, going for anything that is Splatter but that changed and i felt the movies had nothing more to say or to show. As a fan of White Zombie i went to see HOTC and was just blown away. This was a rollercoaster-horror-ride for adults, it did get under your skin and just was so freaky and scary but totally entertaining at the same time, that it brought back my wondering: "why do i even like that stuff?"

Then came The Devil's Rejects and to me this is one of a kind masterpiece of terror-cinema. The most ambiguous film experience for me (on a level with Cannibal Holocaust- even to write that name feels sick..but also a masterpiece)
I have 4 different CDs from that movie (well, one of them is an enhanced version of the soundtrack, dialogue snippets in between the music)
Of course the Soundtrack with beautiful tracks from The Allman Brothers Band, Terry Reid, David Essex, ....
Than the Motion Picture Score by Tyler Bates, eerie, creepie, industrial, shocking, hell of a score.
And they did a whole and wonderful cool and funny fake-album by the band Banjo & Sullivan, the protagonists of the movie.

Both of his Halloween remakes are also very good, he gave it a new touch and widened the story about Michael Myers.

But his Lords of Salem and 31 were rather disappointing. I enjoyed his animated The Haunted World of El Superbeasto but wouldn't say that it is a special good one.

Looking forward to 3 from Hell, but i won't expect too much of it. The Devil's Rejects is just too good to have a follow up.

I've met him and his wife in a comic store in cologne, i was very young and totally nervous, but i asked for an autograph and he and sheri signed a magazine i bought about Lucio Fulci precious little item;-)