A New Nightmare - The Rolling Horror Thread 2016 Reborn

This thread is an IT minefield - I’m not seeing it until Wednesday :no_mouth:

Until then, here’s every Stephen King adaptation ranked:

My word, there’s some dross in there. My lesser known tip - enjoyed The Night Flyer…

Hello :wave: I need to read this thread more, but I’m so unbelievably bad a giving my opinion/reviewing films… eek. Anyway, all the points people have made about the new IT I totally agree with… that is all! :clown_face: :balloon:

When seeing IT did anyone see the trailer for the Jigsaw film :roll_eyes: Christ Alive…

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yeah there’s maybe a dozen or so movies of quality there with a fairly big gulf in quality between the best and the next tier of quality. 1408 and Pet Semetary shouldn’t be ranked so high. The Mist probably belongs mid-tier as its CGI hasn’t held up well at all and the ending feels a bit too edgy.

Not getting the new IT being rated that low either, especially below some really not-good entries.

Yes I did - same old same old eh*

*Will almost definitely end up seeing it.

Liked IT a lot overall - was more like riding and old school ghost train than watching a film at times.

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Oof… riding AN old school ghost train.

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Horror buffs pls vote in my poll

Watched the original IT over the weekend, really scared me as a kid but it has not aged well and is terribly structured. Tim Curry’s performance is an all time classic mind.

1408 is great but I’m with you on The Mist.

I recall liking 1408, I just don’t remember anything about it. Just seems oddly placed.

I watched it last year when I was looking for a horror film to watch with my then just turned 14 year old son. It was deemed too scary, and I don’t scare easily.

That list makes me realize how many minor-league King adaptations there are floating around out there that I have no desire to see. Here are some random thoughts on some of the ones I’m familiar with:

Creepshow - Have loved this ever since I first saw it on a big-box VHS back in the day. The cockroach sequence freaks me out to this day and I love the whole EC vibe. Plus - George Romero!

The Mist - This is one of my favourite modern horror films. This was one of the first horror movies I saw after several years away from the genre and I loved it. The black and white version is worth checking out if you like the original. Ending still totally works for me - but then I love me some nihilistic irony.

Stand By Me - Total classic.

The Shining - If not my favourite horror film ever, then it’s certainly up there. I went for years buying into the received wisdom that this isn’t very good and that’s just bullshit. I love the sense of escalating dread; it scared me when I first saw it in my teens and still scares me today.

Carrie - Another personal favourite. What I most like about this is that it manages to balance genuinely humorous sequences with moments that remain disturbing no matter how many times you see them. Piper Laurie in this freaks me right the fuck out.

Haven’t seen the new IT yet - will probably go see it next week, maybe…

And finally some non-King stuff. Re-watched 10 Cloverfield Lane last night and loved it, which just goes to show that you shouldn’t watch a film for the first time on a plane… Over and out…

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It - excellent stuff, really good performances all round. Thought the dialogue was fine (and pretty damn funny), yer man Finn from Stranger Things obviously having a total blast being an absolute lad with his lines.

Didn’t find Pennywise that scary, but I really didn’t like the face-body horror shizzle much, that was grim. Thought the creepy woman from the painting second time around was the scariest thing to be honest and Georgie when his face was all rotten.

Would happily watch again, genuinely a really great film and a decent Stephen King adaption.

Squinting while reading this thread in order to avoid IT spoilers for just one more day. Anyway, caught up with a couple of slightly disappointing films at the weekend…

Before I Wake - having started off on a great run with Absentia, Oculus and Hush, Mike Flannagan seems to have hit a bit of a flat spot with Ouija: Origin Of Evil and this. In fairness, Ouija II made about a gazillion dollars so I’m sure he doesn’t feel too bad when he’s Scrooge McDucking his way into his giant pool of cash. Before I Wake faced numerous problems with actually getting released, and there’s signs that it might have been tinkered with disadvantageously - the ending feels like it was tacked on after negative test screenings and much of the CGI feels half finished. There are some genuinely creepy ideas here, but the execution falls flat and it’s hard to care about the main characters as a result. Also, is Thomas Jane actually any good in anything or is he just…there? 5/10

Alien: Covenant - after Prometheus, we were promised some proper alien action this time around. Unfortunately this is still primarily origin story, again, only this time the architects are dispensed with in a single scene, as is Noomi Rapace’s Elizabeth Shaw character. The alien action is vstly inferior to anything in the first three films annoyingly. Much like Prometheus, it looks good, and also much like Prometheus it doesn’t always make a whole load of sense. Previous Alien films have suceeded by having an interesting ensemble mix of everyday characters, but by the end of this I could barely tell you the name of any of the main characters. Michael Fassbender is however excellently creepy again as the terrifying David, plus he actually gets double screentime this time around. Overall, a bit more aliens fucking shit up and a bit less origin story would be welcome. Also, the ‘twist’ at the end could barely have been more signposted. 5/10

Far, far too generous on Covenant mate. Also, Fassbender was laughably bad.

Been reading some articles about 10 Cloverfield Lane. Think this one largely misses the point: The Psychological Fakery of “10 Cloverfield Lane” | The New Yorker

Whereas this one is genuinely insightful:The Psychological Fakery of “10 Cloverfield Lane” | The New Yorker

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Finally saw IT :clown_face: last night having avoided any spoilers :balloon: Spoilered in case some losers :wink: haven’t seen it yet…

Thought it was good. The kids were all great obviously, although the film struggled slightly to give them all adequate screentime/character development - Stan and Mike missing out somewhat at the expense of the others. The dialogue was probably the highlight of the film - not quite Stand By Me but almost at that level. Overall, this was vastly superior in every way to the previous adaptation including the key one, Pennywise, who was fantastic - genuinely creepy. Whoever was whining in the other thread about Bill Skarsgard being miscast must be feeling quite the…clown right now. Only complaint was that after he kills Georgie early in the film, which was properly horrifying, we don’t see him kill another child which detracts from his menace somewhat (although I don’t know why I’m complaining - since having kids of my own, children in peril in films is my kryptonite). The whole nostalgic tone of the film was spot on, and the attention to detail was great. The score certainly was in your face, but personally that didn’t bother me; plus any excuse to shoehorn some Anthrax into a film is always welcome. The scares came thick and fast, and if anything in the middle section there was almost too many, if such a thing is possible. Was worried for a second during the final showdown that Pennywise was about to go full spider, when he sprouted the crustacean style legs, but actually him disintegrating into the void was the perfect end (for now) for him. 8/10

I saw IT last night as well. Generally really positive about it, enjoyed it a lot and thought it was a good adaptation of half of the book. As a book wanker I also enjoyed the nods towards the scenes to come, like the references to the water tower and the Paul Bunyan statue, and really liked the way it captures the childhood friendships that are such a key part of the book. Only a couple of small gripes - like someone says upthread, the music is way overblown and could have done with a bit more subtlety (I realise that I am asking for subtlety in a movie about a shapechanging killer clown who rips childrens’ arms off), some of the kids are a little underdeveloped (understandable enough when you’re reducing a 1000 page book to a two hour movie) and one more thing that is honestly tiny but really leapt out at me, reminded me that this thing went through dozens of drafts before making the screen and generally knocked me out of the illusion for a bit - in the final confrontation in the sewer, IT taunts Richie by saying “Beep beep Richie!”. In the books, that’s a big thing, it’s like Richie’s catchphrase, but I don’t remember it being mentioned in the film at all before then. It made me think it was a hang on from a previous draft, and felt a bit out of place once the thing it was referencing had (presumably) been written out of the movie. Super nitpicky, but it did jar for me.

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One other thing I meant to say, last night was first visit to The Electric in Shoreditch - man, that is a nice cinema. Armchairs, cashmere lap blankets, Camden Helles on my side table…

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Nice. There’s an Electric cinema in Birmingham which is similar, not all sofas though. Last time I went was to see High Rise. It’s claimed to be the oldest working cinema in the U.K.

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Wrote quite a big reply the other day saying why I thought it was rubbish but realised it made me sound a bit joyless so deleted it.