Dario Argento and others thrillers/horror movies directors

[Master Ray]

Thanks for the shout-out chthulhu!  I do remember posting my lengthy history of John Carpenter movies... I do go off an a ramble sometimes (especially after a few drinks), I must re-read that thread sometime to investigate what the heck I was on about... 

As for Christine... I think I said that I regard it in the same way that I regard The Dead Zone... good film but the book was far better, got more into the characters and far more moving.  But hey, both books were proper door-stoppers, I guess you gotta sacrifice something just to squeeze it into a two hour movie!

Starman is, IMHO, just a bloody lovely film.  Yes, a bit cheesy in places but terrific performances from Bridges and Allen and no matter how many times I watch it there are still a few moments that make me think that someone is chopping onions nearby (because it couldn't possibly be the case that I'm one of those emotionally repressed males who has to be stoic in real life but weeps like a little girl who just fell over and skinned her knees when something vaguely sad  happens on TV...  )

The Lighthouse... well, it's been on my to-watch list for long enough, I will be sure to get hold of it and report back!

So, to put a new name into this thread... how about Alexandre Aja?  He might have been brought up before  but he's done some absolute belters, High Tension / Haute Tension, the Hills Have Eyes remake, the Piranha remake, the recent hit (and very good) Crawl and a couple of excellent but under-rated flicks, Horns and Mirrors.  Opinions, anyone?

[cthulhu]

Well, i do think we had Aja here before. I think Ghosttrain also got a taste of "Haute Tension" while we were writing about it.
But the man has some craft! I haven't seen Crawl and Horns yet, but good to be reminded of those films, will check them out.

I received The Witch (did i beat you Ghosttrain?;-), think i'm going to see that today, kind of hanging around today, skipped work, pretended to be sick, had too much headbrainfkc the last days, need some time out.

I t seems that the french have their special relationship and love for cinema going well in corona times. Very good move to show good old films. Here in germany, they all fear to go down, because of the lack of movies being released on top of the restrictions, but they could do it like the french. Show movies!

And Master Ray..you're not alone weeping like a girl when cheesy stuff is on the telly..for me it just needs a fake heartbreaking story of a child or tragic relationship or sad moments, combined with some sader synthie music and although i don't even likme the characters, i will cry like a baby;-)

The Stalker thing...well, i've seen that movie only once years ago and always wanted to see it again. That means i've got it right here on dvd, but the almost 3h of a russian language movie...kind of a hard decision to make to watch it. I need someone who would also go for it, to share that experience..
I had that falling asleep thing with AKIRA (did you know that the movie is placed in 2019? kind of creepy regarding the story..) i always fell asleep before the end, in those times it kind of just was too much to proceed for my brain. the animation is overwhelming, my brain shut itself of;-)

[Ghosttrain]

Yes i did get a taste for ''Haute Tension''....(thank you very much)......and yes you did beat me to it with ''The Witch''.....due any day now say Amazon.....

And don't even go there with the weepy thing..i take after my late father who was 6'2'' weighed about 18 stone,ex Royal Navy/prisoner of war,covered in tattoos who used to blub like a good'un watching Lassie films and the like......nothing wrong with that (imho)...not Lassie for me ......but it does'nt take much.. ..

[cthulhu]

 
great to picture this!

[Ghosttrain]

My hard faced Mother did'nt think much of it....

[Master Ray]

And don't even go there with the weepy thing..i take after my late father who was 6'2'' weighed about 18 stone,ex Royal Navy/prisoner of war,covered in tattoos who used to blub like a good'un watching Lassie films and the like......nothing wrong with that (imho)...not Lassie for me ......but it does'nt take much.. ..


Six words.  The Railway Children.  'Daddy... my Daddy!' 

Bloody hell, this thread has gone a bit off course, hasn't it?      

[Guillaume]

As for Christine...good film but the book was far better, got more into the characters and far more moving.

"Christine' is an old favourite for me, i've seen it the first time in the mid 80's it made a big impression on me, i was a kid...so maybe it's a bit of a nostalgic feel but i still like the film after all thesse viewings on tv, dvd, blu ray, theater, after all these years!
Then i read the book when i was a teenager and remember being a bit disappointed because it was a gorier, much more grand guignol story especially with the ghost/rotting corpse of LeBay still haunting the car and talking to, mocking/insulting the poor Arnie!
I think that Carpenter was wise to not put the ghost in the film and to not use gore effects, and to put more emphasis on the mysterious jealous possessive sexy car itself/herself and the "relationship" with Arnie. i mean, it's a moody slow building atmospheric character study movie and Carpenter was so good with this style of direction at the time. Overall it's a film where Carpenter is the most at ease with his great style of direction and the content/characterization/performances.
But yes, i remember indeed that King in his book got more into the friendship between Arnie and Dennis.

I t seems that the french have their special relationship and love for cinema going well in corona times. Very good move to show good old films. Here in germany, they all fear to go down, because of the lack of movies being released on top of the restrictions, but they could do it like the french. Show movies!

All the "big" Hollywood movies will be released next year...maybe...so yeah more space and time for "old" movies restored on the big screen!
We are lucky, indeed, to have some old movies in theaters...when i studied and worked in Paris i've seen lots of old movies in theater, each week.

[cthulhu]

When i was watching Christine and Starman, i noticed how perfectly Carpenter uses the setting and all the items that he has got so well, to make it look huge and real.
There is a scene in Starman, when they are chased and i think there is a traffic jam. In one shot he has the protagonists on the street or bridge like and in the far, there are i think like 3 Helicopters. But the whole scene was so introduced and build up, that it looks like all the military is there. And i think in the comparison to Spielberg, he would have had all the military there to achieve kind of the same impact, Carpenter is the one who has clever solutions to work with the unseen movie tricks, to give the illusion of a crowd of thousands.

When watching the car morph, i was so thrilled. I just knew that it had to be backwards filming, but the whole thing looked so unreal good that i was thinking the whole time about how they did it. I guessed that they used different camera speeds or intercut the same scene with different versions, like destroying several cars and mix the takes. But it seems that they just lit the whole scene so well and crashed the car, filmimg it backwards, that's it.
Not to forget the build up to it and mood and whole setting, with Arnie also morphing and changing and watching, that gives the scene more depth.

[cthulhu]

Was very impressed by:

It also has a unique, dense atmosphere, and a powerful cast..scary movie. Inspired by old tales and real confessions and writings from those times, so again the dialogue has an important role in this movie, like in The Lighthouse.
I think the director has some real talent, will look out for his coming works.

Curious what Ghosttrain will have to say about it...or whoever also saw that movie.

[Ghosttrain]

I am still waiting for my copy could be a few more days yet.....Mail Plane had to return to UK due to the weather and forecast bad for next couple of days..will keep you posted......i am really glad you liked it.

[Guillaume]

When i was watching Christine and Starman, i noticed how perfectly Carpenter uses the setting and all the items that he has got so well, to make it look huge and real.
There is a scene in Starman, when they are chased and i think there is a traffic jam. In one shot he has the protagonists on the street or bridge like and in the far, there are i think like 3 Helicopters. But the whole scene was so introduced and build up, that it looks like all the military is there. And i think in the comparison to Spielberg, he would have had all the military there to achieve kind of the same impact, Carpenter is the one who has clever solutions to work with the unseen movie tricks, to give the illusion of a crowd of thousands.

Carpenter's use of widescreen cinematography, Cinemascope is unmatched, even when his budgets are low (ASSAULT OF PRECINCT 13, HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, PRINCE OF DARKNESS...) you think that the films had a much bigger budget because how much the cinematography looks beautiful and how much Carpenter uses the frame well, with lots of space and depth. 

When watching the car morph, i was so thrilled. I just knew that it had to be backwards filming, but the whole thing looked so unreal good that i was thinking the whole time about how they did it. I guessed that they used different camera speeds or intercut the same scene with different versions, like destroying several cars and mix the takes. But it seems that they just lit the whole scene so well and crashed the car, filmimg it backwards, that's it.
Not to forget the build up to it and mood and whole setting, with Arnie also morphing and changing and watching, that gives the scene more depth.

They used on the set  if i remember well 17 cars, more or less damaged/broken. The special effects work for so well even after 37 years after the film's release.

The "Show me" scenes is legend!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oezKQEF0deY&ab_channel=Movieclips

 

[Tarsier]

Very good move to show good old films. Here in germany, they all fear to go down, because of the lack of movies being released on top of the restrictions, but they could do it like the french. Show movies!

Indeed, I bet people everywhere wants to re-visit some good old movies! I'm glad that in Prague there are quite many small cinemas, showing weird old stuff! My favourite being Kino Aero... and favourite in Aero, once in a month they have ''Aero naslepo / Blind Date with Aero'': until the last moment you don't know which movie they will show! You don't pay anything before the movie, just leave a tip after. As a bonus - if you have seen the movie/it's a movie you don't want to watch, you have 20 minutes to leave the theatre & they'll give you a free beer for your wasted time I never left before movie ended, and saw some remarkable movies I probably wouldn't have watched otherwise - ''Dragged Across Concrete'' is worth mentioning

[Master Ray]

Dragged Across Concrete, although rather overlong, is a bloody excellent film.   

[cthulhu]

@Tarsier
This really sounds great. Such good offers to bring the audience into the seats again. Especially with the free beer..;-)

But i've just read that a huge cinema company, i think the're from england, is going down and shutting like thousands of theaters, because the studio again delayed the start of the new James Bond. There are about 45.000 jobs being shut down..this is so sad! Ithink it's about Cineworld and Regal Cinemas closing all Theaters in UK and the US.

[Silver Cloud]

When i was watching Christine and Starman, i noticed how perfectly Carpenter uses the setting and all the items that he has got so well, to make it look huge and real.
There is a scene in Starman, when they are chased and i think there is a traffic jam. In one shot he has the protagonists on the street or bridge like and in the far, there are i think like 3 Helicopters. But the whole scene was so introduced and build up, that it looks like all the military is there. And i think in the comparison to Spielberg, he would have had all the military there to achieve kind of the same impact, Carpenter is the one who has clever solutions to work with the unseen movie tricks, to give the illusion of a crowd of thousands.

When watching the car morph, i was so thrilled. I just knew that it had to be backwards filming, but the whole thing looked so unreal good that i was thinking the whole time about how they did it. I guessed that they used different camera speeds or intercut the same scene with different versions, like destroying several cars and mix the takes. But it seems that they just lit the whole scene so well and crashed the car, filmimg it backwards, that's it.
Not to forget the build up to it and mood and whole setting, with Arnie also morphing and changing and watching, that gives the scene more depth.

I love this film and watch it allways when its on TV … today is the first It movies in german TV, great, too …