Gyromania: Horror Decade List (Tentative)

Gyromania 07.07.19	i know that thom yorke did a suspiria soundtrack but i like the goblin one more so w/e lol. couldn't pick albums for cabin in the woods and what we do in the shadows. i realize they're not exactly 'horror' in the way these other ones are, but i'm including comedies too. might expand the category to include thrillers that have horror leanings, so i can include stuff like the house that jack built.
BigPleb 07.07.19	Not seen 11, 10 & 5 but the rest rule. Which one is the best out of those? Will throw it on tonight.
artiswar 07.07.19	6 is a gem
Gyromania 07.07.19	10 is very disturbing and very artsy -a lot of people call it pretentious, as did i, but i've come to really love it over the years; 5 is a comedy, it's pretty damn funny and really enjoyable; 11 is entertaining all the way up until the dubstep ending, very torn on what i'd rate it because i consider quite a bit of it to be great and a bit of it to be lacking.
neekafat 07.07.19	2 over 11 lol
Gyromania 07.07.19	you serious or?
Trebor. 07.07.19	Can't stand Halloween remake or maraduke, but blackcoat's daughter is that thang
Gyromania 07.07.19	halloween remake is like a 7/10 for me. nothing to write home about but far better than i thought it'd be, despite bad characters and a lackluster ending.
Trebor. 07.07.19	character is pretty much everything for me, although sometimes it does make the kills more satisfying when you hate the characters What really broke me with that movie is that Strode has been planning for 40 fuckin years for Mike to come back, she built her whole house for that purpose, except her front door has glass in the door that is very easily broken into like how the fuck did you not think of that
Gyromania 07.07.19	haha yeah, and a lot of dumb moves were made during that assault. like... you're in a basement full of weapons (her daughter not grabbing guns immediately was frustrating too), why the fuck would you not just hold up and wait for him to come down and unload on him?
Larkinhill 07.07.19	Bigpleb — Definitely check out Annihilation. Really good.
Gyromania 07.07.19	ideally i'd say check out all 3. if you do end up checking out under the skin, def let me know what you think lol
PunchforPunch 07.07.19	The Wailing bruh
OldCrime 07.08.19	^^^ South Korean horror movies are fantastic!
luci 07.08.19	1 and 2 are really good, 3 was a total bore though
budgie 07.08.19	i posted in another thread a while ago, my top of the decade so far https://puu.sh/DQ1NR/fe9928017a.jpg edit: so this is actually top 20 of the century, not decade
Slex 07.08.19	5 is my favorite comedy of all time Absolute classic
unclereich 07.08.19	A lot of shit on this list but you included the essentials
Gyromania 07.08.19	punchforpunch: downloading the wailing, thanks for the rec! budgie: not gonna lie man, some of these look kinda eh. lake mungo was indeed fantastic though, thnx for the rec. but like, scream 4? troll hunter? i thought 10 cloverfield lane was great but i hesitate to call it a horror. which of the other ones here are from this decade that you think i'd like?
unclereich 07.08.19	8s ending ruined it for me
Gyromania 07.08.19	alex: YES! seen it 3 times now and it's still hilarious. lol fourthreich which ones are shit? i'm guessing annihilation, halloween, and under the skin
Gyromania 07.08.19	eh, i can definitely see that but i still love a lot about the movie. i will say though that i much prefer the original overall
unclereich 07.08.19	1,6,11,12. Halloween is great!
unclereich 07.08.19	While the original is better the remake is far more jarring but the ending is just so lolwtf i couldnt get on board. I think it’s at a 6.8 rn and that is right where I’d rate it. 6.8 is super generous for a horror movie too
Gyromania 07.08.19	you think the babadook is shit?
unclereich 07.08.19	Yea i could write a book about it but i would be in vain im sure
unclereich 07.08.19	Fwiw 2&3 are ridiculously good
Gyromania 07.08.19	yeah please don't. i've never heard anyone say it's shit - legit, you're the first, even among my friends who are very critical of the genre. certainly can't imagine anyone saying it's shit while also saying 2018 halloween is great lmao. halloween was a fun enough ride for me but the acting was shit, characters do dumb cliche horror convention character things, and the ending was lackluster to say the least.
unclereich 07.08.19	That’s why Halloween was great it’s not trying to be something it’s not. Its a strong 6, the babdook is probably a 6 as well but what it is hyped as and what its trying to be made the entire experience a shit one for me. Its also just dull.
Gyromania 07.08.19	because it was stupid? lol
unclereich 07.08.19	Its like the revenant another over hyped movie that put me to sleep
unclereich 07.08.19	Yea its like a 6.7 but damn if i wasn’t serious about my ratings on imbd id 1 it for how utterly disappointed i was
Gyromania 07.08.19	the babadook is such a clever movie, with a great message: you need to learn to accept the past and not suppress your emotions in order to move forward. so much of it is surreal in all the ways i love too - like when she's falling asleep watching the news and she sees a woman standing in a building that looks exactly like her. i'm a big fan of that kind of psychological horror. the scene where the babadook chases her through the house and she crawls away on the ground: i thought that perfectly captured the fear and helplessness you get in nightmares when you know the monster is behind you and you feel paralyzed, completely defenceless. also thought it was really cool how the more she denied him, the stronger he got, because he's a metaphor for her pushing down her guilt and not accepting the responsibility of motherhood. legit baffled at how you can think it's shit
Rowan5215 07.08.19	pretty good list here, everything I've read makes me think you would love Resolution (2012) as much as I do gyro. fantastic movie
Gyromania 07.08.19	good shit rowan, will download that after breakfast. i was hoping to get more recs itt but so far only you and punchforpunch lol
Gyromania 07.08.19	is resolution 2013? that's the only one i see on pirate bay
Rowan5215 07.08.19	give the sputnikmovies.com crowd time to assemble, they will if you like Resolution: the other two features by those guys, Spring and The Endless, are also very good though imo not even close to decade-best as Resolution is Berberian Sound Studio & They Look Like People are also cool, more lowkey character-driven ones with surreal elements. they're not shit-your-pants scary but very unnerving. As Above So Below is an actual good shakycam/found footage one that I think is underrated. probably more but I can't think of them atm
Rowan5215 07.08.19	looks like it's either 2012 or 2013 depending on region, so yeah that'd be the one
Gyromania 07.08.19	oh this is by the same people as the endless? i loved the endless, saw it twice. was saying in that one summer horror thread that midsommar from the looks of it reminds me of the endless. also love as above, so below. that car scene was fucked. really into that kind of surreal horror. sometimes unnerving is the best kind of shit-your-pants scary imo.
Rowan5215 07.08.19	yeah that car scene stays with you, that movie built tension to release in the last 20 minutes really fucking well. the acting was good which helped! yes, it's the same directors, and The Endless is kind of a sequel/same universe as Resolution even. I definitely would've recommended watching Resolution first, but it doesn't reeeally matter, there's just one bit in The Endless which has a payoff if you've seen Resolution already. either way if you liked that I'm sure you'll like Resolution even more
Gyromania 07.08.19	oh shit, this is the movie budgie said was a prequel of sorts. i forgot to return to that (my bad budgie).
PunchforPunch 07.08.19	Oh didn't know you're asking for recs Gyro lol. Check out Satan's Slave (2017) too then. Its pretty much in your face asian supernatural/haunted house horror so although there's nothing clever about the movie it is still scary as fuck.
Rowan5215 07.08.19	oh forgot about It Comes At Night (2017). again not outright scary but it's got that slow building sense of dread down pat. good for fans of The VVitch
Gyromania 07.08.19	sounds like a winner! got it in my library atm, just gotta make time for it. i love asian supernatural/haunted house horror, so pretty pumped for this! you ever watch Hausu?
PunchforPunch 07.08.19	Lol yea Hausu is wacky and campy as hell, in a good way of course.
Rowan5215 07.08.19	last one for now: Green Room. don't research Green Room just go in blind and roll with it. those are my general picks for people looking for good shit
Slex 07.08.19	God I love Green Room
butt. 07.08.19	Green Room, Hereditary, and The Witch are all easily in my top 10 of the decade. Maybe even top 10 ever. God I love A24
Chortles 07.08.19	good stuff here, i love all that i've seen on this list. as for recs, seconded on The Wailing. best horror of the decade imo!! Green Room is also so so good and just hurts to watch
budgie 07.08.19	oh god "my comment is too long" & i lost everything
DoofDoof 07.08.19	You've convinced me to try 1 as I already had it on my Amazon Prime watchlist - goes to the top of the pile
budgie 07.08.19	@gyro so i have nothing but love for Scream 4, it's a solid slasher, i like it more than You're Next (which is maybe the general vote for slasher-of-the-century). however Scream #1 is definitely in my top 3 favorite films (maybe #1) so that paints my perception of the 4th in some way i'm sure. that being said, its still at least an above-average slasher release and anyone who digs the subgenre should have fun with the film. if someone doesn't like slashers maybe the film would fall flat, idk. i think it's quality. Trollhunter seems pretty well received if not adored by most everyone in the general horror community; has similar vibes to The Ritual (gorgeous scandinavian wilderness & cool folk monsters) while being maybe a bit less bleak, almost comedic in how the story doesn't take itself too seriously, which may contribute it to being an endearing horror flick. nothing but fun from beginning to end. could easily be my #1 of the century. The Tunnel and another film i accidentally omitted - Banshee Chapter - both have this excellent creepy abandoned urban filmscape vibe with extradimensional terror, so while neither are like, masterpieces of cinema, i love them because of their settings. Black Mountain Side has a sort of Lovecraftian The Thing-esque cosmic psychological terror story going on. unlisted but the film called Final Prayer/Borderlands has some Lovecraftian elder-god thing going on as well, it's pretty alright with a good ending. ok submitting & moving on to next films
budgie 07.08.19	28 Days Later & What We Become & The Uncured are all zombie-fare. What We Become & The Uncured are maybe not super highly regarded however, which confused me, & still confuses me, obviously i adore them both. The Uncured is more societal and family drama (and boasts a good performance with Ellen Page), and What We Become is just: societal collapse in a small Danish neighborhood. i love anything zombie though so, doesn't take much for me to love them. 28 Days Later is probably the most modern horror film that could qualify as a certifiable classic in my opinion and i'll assume you've seen it Beast is more euro stuff, has that british black-drama style, with excellent performances, & a very resolving story, & very very black-drama. blew me away! definitely on the slow-burn side of things, and if you don't consider 10 Cloverfield Lane horror then you definitely wouldn't consider this horror. solid, though-and-through Late Phases is an endearing werewolf flick. not a whole lot to say, just... has an awesome protagonist, a satisfying story arch, and ridiculous werewolf costumes. House of the Devil & Red State are both Ti West films meaning, great polish, though a little vapid. but awesome to watch. Red State is about a siege on a religious fundamentalist compound (and has John Goodman!) and House of the Devil is an 80s-(maybe 70s?)throwback-slasher-worship film with a pretty empty story but it's just awesome to watch. and Jocelin Donahue is super fun. The Invitation is a great film, uh.. great acting, great story, great setting, great shit-hits-the-fan moment, great horror, great ending. another great film that has a lot of tension-at-the-dinner-table is Coherence. Cheap Thriller is just a fun thriller film, not super horror but it's not necessarily a bro film either. i have too much fun with it every time i watch it. Murder Party is i think the first film by Saulnier (Green Room, Blue Ruin). not serious, though, very goofy Halloween comedy horror. total fucking classic but i love goofy horror so you may not dig. i think it's generally well liked. and i think the last two to mention are: Honeymoon, which is well done romance-horror though there is a story element that prevents the film from being a perfect 5/5. i love romance & horror together so this film reeeally worked with me. someone else mentioned Spring which is also solid, but i like romance-horror that has a different sort of ending, haha. don't want to spoil anything. there are some other romance-horror mixes like The Arbor Demon (not good) or Backcountry (maybe worth watching once). i think Honeymoon is the best, or closest to perfect.
StrikeOfTheBeast 07.08.19	11 was nuts
DoofDoof 07.08.19	'Trollhunter seems pretty well received if not adored by most everyone in the general horror community; has similar vibes to The Ritual (gorgeous scandinavian wilderness & cool folk monsters) while being maybe a bit less bleak, almost comedic in how the story doesn't take itself too seriously, which may contribute it to being an endearing horror flick. nothing but fun from beginning to end. could easily be my #1 of the century.' eh, it's good fun but a 6 out of 10 sort of movie :/
budgie 07.08.19	& the last film other than It Follows (which was on your list) is Boys in the Trees, which isn't really a horror film, but rather, a well-done Halloween tale with a tearjerking side-story interwoven into it. i thought it was fucking amazing! i don't know that it's well received though.
Rowan5215 07.08.19	oh yeah can vouch for Banshee Chapter that shit absolutely slaps. Ted Levine brought the goods Jocelin Donahue is unbelievably gorgeous and likable in House of the Devil, elevated it above 'ok'
alamo 07.08.19	i really hate blackcoat's daughter because [spoiler] emma roberts and the sabrina girl look the same age and nothing like each other so i had no idea they were playing the same character but 10 years younger/older and the movie just seemed really ridiculous until i googled it afterwards
budgie 07.08.19	yeah Rowan she doesn't get the best roles. Dead Awake was horrible, I Trapped the Devil, well she didn't really have a big role in it. she's in Summer Camp though and that movie was a lot of fun! cheesy zombie flick.
Clumseee 07.08.19	You're Next The Invitation IT Cabin In The Woods The Witch Hereditary Creep 1 & 2 The Visit Get Out Us
StrikeOfTheBeast 07.08.19	Let's not forget the polarizing Mother!
Rowan5215 07.08.19	lol wtf Emma Roberts looked like 22 in that movie and Kiernan Shipka looked 16 at most, how did they look the same age at all. @budg I haven't seen any of those but she was amazing in HOTD, that dance scene is god-tier
budgie 07.08.19	i completely ignored Mother! thinking it wasn't anywhere near the horror spectrum of film genres. it is? just looking now, same director as Black Swan huh? i thought Black Swan was ace
tectactoe 07.08.19	IT COMES AT NIGHT gets a lot of hate online, it seems, but it has proved to be one of my favorite horror movies of the decade thus far. Another one that gets casually written off and shat on is UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB from last year, probably because the original (UNFRIENDED) wasn't very good. It's not a direct sequel, though, so don't think you need to see both. I'd just watch DARK WEB. It's honestly one of the most conceptually daring movies in recent times, similar to its predecessor, except it uses its conceit to much more devastating and less silly ends. Going along with ignored sequels, I'll throw a shout out to last year's STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT. This is coming from someone who absolutely hated the original. But Roberts understands mise en scene enough to craft something that works at a more abstract, borderline-artsy level with its long takes, slow zooms, excessive filters, and 80s soundtrack vibes. And, sigh, another one that gets absolutely panned online, yet I have been championing since its release is Mickey Keaton's DARLING (2015). It's very clearly a contemporary remake/homage of Polanski's REPULSION, but there's something about his execution that feels more genuine than exploitative, at least from the stance of cribbing someone else's material. It's chilling and gorgeous and if you can overlook the fact that it's not necessarily trying to "outdo" REPULSION, there's a lot to enjoy. Lastly, if generally creepy imagery without total cohesion is your thing, I'd check out EYES OF MY MOTHER. Caught it on Netflix a couple years ago, not sure if it'd still be there, but it's a nice little slice of "what the actual fuck," which is occasionally exactly what I'm looking for when I'm in the mood for horror.
tectactoe 07.08.19	MOTHER! is one of the finest films of the decade, but calling it a pure horror might be taboo; it's more of a slow burn thriller that eventually descends into a pit of surreal madness, but in my experience, when I've recommended it to people looking for a "horror film," they generally rebuke with "that was not a horror movie."
alamo 07.08.19	1-3, 7-9, 12, 13 are def among my favorites for the decade, also some budgie mentioned: the invitation, green room, beast and murder party (although it's from 2007, watched it yesterday and it's soooooo good lol) other favorites: a girl walks home alone at night, goodnight mommy, under the shadow, hush, raw, cam, creep (1 and 2), the skin i live in, a quiet place and to a lesser extent i'd rec: we are what we are, crimson peak, the conjuring 1 and 2, happy death day (this screams so bad but its so fun lol)
budgie 07.08.19	Darling is cool but Keating's editing style annoys me (it was also apparent in his film Carnage Park). however... Ashley Lauren Carter(?) is awesome in Darling. i wish she got better roles too; Jugface and The Women were both pretty forgettable, i love her though
alamo 07.08.19	also my fav series ever is probably scream queens and i rec it to everyone. it's super goofy and i think the gay men/straight women audience just didn't understand it. season 2 specially is a flawless mix of grey's anatomy, slasher horror and comedy. plus it has jamie lee curtis if this isnt one of the greatest scenes in modern cinema: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op3H5DY8nXw
tectactoe 07.08.19	@budgie, very true - I do recall his editing to be a little overly spastic with the strobe-lighting and excessive cutting, and I agree that the film wouldn't work at all without Carter's disaffected personality (the same way e.g. REPULSION wouldn't have been nearly as good without Deneuve).
budgie 07.08.19	i didn't put it in my list by Creep is definitely up there in a lot of ways, including originality, but the main thing, holy shit the scene where's he's creepily standing in front of the door with the Peachfuzz mask fucking shook me too my core. that & the jump-scare scene in Hell House LLC are two really memorable scares. best scare of all time is the you-know-what scene in Lake Mungo, of course :-D
tectactoe 07.08.19	Greatest "jump scare" of all time has to be the one from JAWS, right? It's a classic.
budgie 07.08.19	ah when Dreyfuss is diving right? @alamo this is cool, Emma Roberts is so over the top. i love her in a she's-so-annoying kind of way.
tectactoe 07.08.19	Yep haha, that's the one.
butt. 07.08.19	"House of the Devil & Red State are both Ti West films" @budgie Red State is Kevin Smith. also +1 for Honeymoon, that movie is severely underrated. The tension is willlld
budgie 07.08.19	shit yeah, probably mixed up that Ti West directed The Sacrament, another film about crazed religious terrorists
StrikeOfTheBeast 07.08.19	"Greatest "jump scare" of all time has to be the one from JAWS, right? It's a classic." YEEEES!!!!!
Gyromania 07.08.19	budgie: gotta admit, i'm not a big fan of the subgenre (slasher). like, i enjoy halloween because myers doesn't seem like a normal human. scream is just a dude in a mask. HOWEVER, i do enjoy the scream movies i've seen. i think they're kind of meant to be satirical of the genre and they're fun popcorn movies. haven't seen the third or fourth though. the ritual i felt like was really cool when the creature was making them hallucinate in the woods, but the cult village at the end was kind of lame and took away from the experience, for me. i actually checked out trollhunter a bit after seeing your list and decided to download it. looks like it might be a fun time. 28 days later is such a damn good movie. i liked the sequel a decent bit too (the opening in particular is one of my favourite sequences in a horror film). i'll check out those others you mentioned. i actually am a huge fan of zombies, even though i know they're super played out. "i love romance & horror together so this film reeeally worked with me." same actually. let the right one in comes to mind. one of my favourite movies of all time.
Gyromania 07.08.19	worth noting that i lost about double the size of what i responded with there when i hit 'submit' because the page had been sitting too long or something lol. i love this site but god damn it is so fucking poorly coded
Slex 07.08.19	Oh also I don’t think I’ve seen anyone recommend Apostle?? Loved it
Slex 07.08.19	And yeah Creep 1 and 2 are my top 2 horror movies of the decade
Gyromania 07.08.19	apostle has a 54% user rating on rotten tomatoes. must be a masterpiece.
budgie 07.08.19	i enjoyed Apostle for Lucy Boynton (she's also in The Blackcoat's Daughter) and the similarities to The Wickerman (one of the best horror films ever!) but maybe i didn't really love the film because it felt overly long to me and a little, i don't know. definitely didn't think it was bad though.
Slex 07.08.19	I just love how ambitious and wild it is, rough around the edges charm to it all
Gyromania 07.08.19	apparently i also need to look into mother! i really liked black swan too, and generally like aronofsky... but then he made noah. and then i heard from tons of people that mother! was awful, so i skipped it.
budgie 07.08.19	yep the introductory segment in 28 weeks later is fucking masterful. "scream is just a dude in a mask." i think that's a big reason why scream worked so well on me as a kid (and still does) vs. freddy/jason/michael being less scary (but still fun) something so sinister and insidious about the "who-done-it" setting combined with serial murders. could be your best friend, could be your teacher, boyfriend, girlfriend. gives the actual kill scenes a terrifying carnal quality
StrikeOfTheBeast 07.08.19	The Forest is a true cult classic. I love how the movie pulls you in on the dreadful atmosphere of the forest, and the jump scares are well done. You also really get the connection of the twins and the poignancy to their character development which makes the end twist that much better. Just kidding it was a fucking awful movie.
Slex 07.08.19	Mother! is fucking horseshit but it does have some great moments
tectactoe 07.08.19	If you generally like Buñuel, you will probably like mother! Maybe. Or at least there's a greater chance of you liking it.
Gyromania 07.08.19	i think the concept of someone you might be close to being a murderous psychopath is a terrifying notion irl, but doesn't translate as well to movies because at the end of the day it is just some dude with a knife. get into a good position or know some self-defence and you might just take him out immediately. threat neutralized. vs some kind of monster with abilities beyond your comprehension (like the alien in under the skin, who throws you into some abyssal prison chamber with breathable liquid and slowly harvests your meat and bones, leaving just your skin behind). i guess slasher's might appear scarier to some because of the plausibility of them, but i don't need something to be plausible to be scared by it (i had some pretty wild nightmares growing up. still do)
Gyromania 07.08.19	all that shit said about slashers though, i do enjoy them, just usually not as much as something like the babadook or it follows, or the witch or most other things on my list. fear of the unknown is what i love. but yeah, i've had a good time with the first 2 scream movies, some halloween movies, creep 1 and 2. some of them are really lacking and just generic though. i wouldn't call it generic, but i saw maniac recently and thought it was ass
budgie 07.08.19	yeah i think ghosts or the it follows monster as a concept are scarier (because i'm completely helpless), but the kill scenes in scream are, idk, affectual, jarring, visceral? at least, the Barrymore kill is the iconic example it's true i think most slashers are pretty similar low-brow popcorn fare. fun genre for me in any case
Gyromania 07.09.19	yo scream 4 is actually a good time. made some popcorn last night and decided to check it out and ended up really enjoying it. seems more self-aware than most movies in the genre; silly in all the right ways
tectactoe 07.09.19	I need to revisit the Scream series. I'm honestly not sure if I've ever seen 3 or 4 at all. But from what I remember, the original entry is a lot more "serious" than most people make it seem. Like, some of the deaths were legitimately intense.
FurtherDown 07.09.19	Glad to see some appreciation for Annihilation, it isn't a flawless movie, but definitely very interesting one. Also, I'm not a expert in the genre, but I enjoyed for example Bone Tomahawk (although it's more of a genre crossover than horror).
PunchforPunch 07.09.19	Bone Tomahawk is good although I felt it's 40 minutes too long for a cannibal flick.
FurtherDown 07.09.19	Oh and I almost forgot about Kill List, that one is totally bleak and very unsettling.
budgie 07.09.19	nice gyro, scream 4 is a good time indeed. really rewatchable. kill list is cool. anyone seen yellowbrickroad?
Rowan5215 07.09.19	fuck I don't know if I ever watched past Scream 2 honestly. that one was good but the original is so perfect that I was almost angry it even got sequels. Matthew Lillard is GOAT in that movie
EyesWideShut 07.09.19	Under The Skin number 1 outta these flicks imo or Bone Tomahawk or A Field in England.. Kill List was solid too.
tectactoe 07.09.19	Was gonna suggest BONE TOMAHAWK but it's such a strong crossover with the slow-burn Western genre that people specifically looking for a "horror" film will probably be disappointed. (But on that note, Zahler is 3-for-3 so far. All of his films are well worth watching.)
EyesWideShut 07.09.19	Shout out Richard Jenkins, his dialogue was A1 in Bone Tomahawk
Gyromania 07.09.19	yeah under the skin has been on my mind a lot lately. really such a fucked up movie. will check out bone tomawhawk and most of the movies rec'd in this thread. also currently watching stranger things season 3. on ep 4 atm and it's okay so far. the humour is super lame. kinda hoping it gets a bit scarier soon.
butt. 07.09.19	I watched ep5 last night and seems like a good premise so far, but yeah hoping it picks up
budgie 07.09.19	"Matthew Lillard is GOAT in that movie" you hit me with the phone, dick!
Larkinhill 07.09.19	For a true to life horror movie, watch Revolutionary Road with DiCaprio. Just builds such a sense of dread as you watch this marriage deteriorate. Random rec I know, but I’ve always said it’s a suburbia horror movie.
Gyromania 07.09.19	I love that movie! Good rec
budgie 07.09.19	2019 is bumming me out so much dudes, haven't really seen anything i love yet
Taxt 07.09.19	Gotta add my support for The Wailing, what a ride Under the Skin is top 10 for me
Larkinhill 07.09.19	It Comes At Night is highly underrated. Great film. And speaking of Joel Edgerton (great actor btw), The Gift is a fantastic thriller, not really horror though. Dude wrote, directed and starred, and knocked it out of the park in all three roles. Amazing. Jason Bateman is amazing too, by far his best performance. The Descent missed the past decade by a few years, but still deserves a mention for any sad soul who hasn’t seen it yet. One of my favorite horror movies. Not sure if they’ve been mentioned yet — and these are debatable as horror, but I consider them to be so — The Neon Demon, Hush, Don’t Breathe And (especially) Gerald’s Game are all great. Gerald blew me away. Flanagan is the man. Evil Dead remake is actually one of my favorites of the past decade. Absolutely adore it. Shit is pretty dark and freaky lol. Has such an evil spirited undercurrent that appeals to me. Goodnight Mommy is a really good and freaky foreign horror movie. Seriously creepy stuff. Raw was gross in all the best ways. Starry Eyes is great body horror. Very creepy. More drama thAn horror, but I think Maggie is seriously underrated. Absolutely heart wrenching stuff (I read the script long before the movie and that ripped me apart also). It’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger where his daughter is turning slowly into a zombie. I have two daughters so that’s definitely partly why it got me in the feels so well. It seems like Arnie would fuck up a serious movie like that and be unintentionally funny but he’s actually really impressive in it. Just wanted to drop some that I thought maybe haven’t mentioned after so many comments lol. The Witch, Blackcoat’s etc are obviously the best, so I’m trying to step outside of the usual suspects.
Rowan5215 07.09.19	"you hit me with the phone, dick!" MY MOM AND DAD ARE GONNA BE SO MAD AT MEEEEEEEE
FurtherDown 07.10.19	"Zahler is 3-for-3 so far." Agreed. I recently watched Brawl in Cell Block 99 for the second time and it's such a brilliant movie. Its last part could be also considered horror in a way, I mean, it literally takes place in hell.
ramon. 07.10.19	[2]'ing Korea: The Wailing, Train to Busan, and I Saw the Devil are all very entertaining films. Very rewatchable afaic. I reckon I Saw the Devil is Choi Min-Sik's best acting role to date. The Witch is probably my favourite horror film of this decade. Extra pos to It Comes At Night, The Skin I Live In, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and the Creep films, really fun stuff. Though I have many problems with Annihilation, the usage of Moderat's "The Mark" actually blows me away. Film's a spectacle at the very least. Similar praise should be thrown at Colin Stetson's work on Hereditary.
Larkinhill 07.10.19	The Skin I Live In is fucking fantastic.
Gyromania 07.10.19	train to busan is good? i've seen it advertised all the time and the poster always makes me think the dude in it is mads mikkelsen lol. a girl walks home alone at night is great but i didn't include it here since it's not really horror. more romance/drama than anything really. idk maybe i should include it. also gotta add creep 1 and 2, scream 4, and a few others
ramon. 07.10.19	Train to Busan is very good yea. Very cheesy but well executed cheese. And yea, I’m probably pushing the limits with Girl Walks but even as a romance/drama I can’t think of many fans of said genres that’d dig the atmosphere whereas I know a few horror nuts who don’t really dig romance type flicks who did enjoy Girl Walks. Tricky film to box in.
Clumseee 07.10.19	Midsommar was amazing.
tectactoe 07.10.19	I seem to be the only person disappointed with MIDSOMMAR. Aster is a talented director with a good eye and a keen sense for genuine shock/unease. But the non-horror elements of his two films (thus far) sink them like an anchor, and his newly acquired "black humor" from MIDSOMMAR is just not my taste. (That is, assuming certain things are supposed to be "humorous" in the first place; that's what the film's ardent supporters keep boasting, anyway.) I was stoked for a horror set almost entirely in daylight (that's a fairly fresh/neat concept all on its own, tbh) but the subtext is undercooked and the tone is all over the place, but not in a "purposely chaotic" kind of way. Will revisit it eventually and hopefully like it more. But even after watching HEREDITARY thrice, my initial feelings weren't much affected.
budgie 07.10.19	plenty of daylight horror man! the wickerman, the ruins, the sand, just immediates
Larkinhill 07.10.19	I loved Midsommar but you definitely haven’t been the only one disappointed. I’d say it’s been about 50/50, or maybe slightly more in the supporters corner.
Gyromania 07.10.19	i like how the wickerman original is a horror and the remake is a comedy. really makes it a movie for all occasions
Larkinhill 07.10.19	Dude I love The Wicker Man remake. Nic Cage is one of my heroes ha. Have you seen Troll 2 tho?! Man, nothing beats that one for hilariously bad “horror”.
budgie 07.10.19	i watched troll 2 and it wasn't hilarious bad, it was just bad hilariously bad is like... bad ben or the aforementioned the sand or the ranger or thankskilling maybe or redneck zombies troll 2 was just bad, lol
Larkinhill 07.10.19	watched troll 2 and it wasn't hilarious bad, it was just bad Very hard disagree dude. Probably the funniest movie I’ve ever seen. How can you not laugh at shit like this? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=igH2v8NFm9I
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Oh man, I can’t believe I forgot to mention this. It’s definitely not from this decade, it’s early 70s. But Don’t Look Now is for real one of the best horror movies ever made. So underrated in that people somewhat rarely mention it, nor have many people I’ve talked to seen it. @gyro and all the horror buffs here — definitely seek it out if you haven’t seen yet.
Rowan5215 07.11.19	Don't Look Now is fucking superb, it walks the line of goofy as hell and genuinely unnerving and pulls it off thanks to some absolutely killer cinematography and acting from the leads. love that movie and the ending is fucking iconic
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Hell yeah man, glad someone else knows about it. That ending is one of the creepiest/most bizarre/unnerving/shocking I’ve ever seen. Really freaks you out.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Love the setting and atmosphere. Venice and all its canals and dark, narrow roads and alleys. So creepy.
budgie 07.11.19	i've been enjoying some 90s stuff. saw disturbing behavior and the faculty just recently, both fun, and watching urban legends right now. planning on rewatching the wonderful blair witch 2: book of shadows this weekend
budgie 07.11.19	shit i'll have to make sure i watch night of the demons II, that's a 90s film though i always think of it as an 80s film. and it ruuuuules.
TheGreatQ 07.11.19	Babadook fucking sucks with how heavy handed it is.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Love The Faculty man. Takes me back.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	You mention Night of the Demons 2 but have you seen the first one?! Dude soooo good. Campy in that endearing 80s horror way. I was obsessed with that movie growing up. The second is entertaining but nothing like the first.
ramon. 07.11.19	"Mother! is fucking horseshit but it does have some great moments" oh shit didn't notice that film had been brought up, actually really love that movie
Winesburgohio 07.11.19	Love mother! but have y'all considered... Coherence
Winesburgohio 07.11.19	Also I know it's not 'horror' but First Reformed troubled me in a way a good horror should; spectacular film
ramon. 07.11.19	still haven't gotten round to coherence because my priorities are in check but yea, first fragment absolutely invoked some horror esque dread
tectactoe 07.11.19	I was going to suggest COHERENCE but figured it might not qualify as true "horror," but may as well third the notion now that it is indeed a terrifying film, both the text and subtext are frightening and heartbreaking. One of my favorite films of the decade.
Rowan5215 07.11.19	Coherence is more existentially unnerving (I know, I know, roll ur eyes in my direction) than most explicit horror I have seen
tectactoe 07.11.19	It definitely is. And too many people get caught up in the surface-level logistics of the ending that they completely miss the thematic "point" of it all, which is honestly the most frightening part. (That is, that our decisions and/or indecision have lasting consequences that can't simply be undone and may end up rippling through the rest of our lives.)
Gyromania 07.11.19	yeah i'm gonna add coherence to this list after consideration. problem is, it would rate in my top 5, which means i have to shuffle things around since sputnik's list making is so unintuitively designed so that will be tedious af lol
Gyromania 07.11.19	gotta check out don't look now. "Babadook fucking sucks with how heavy handed it is." how tf is it heavy handed? nothing about it is clumsy or contrived, it's told superbly through subtle details.
butt. 07.11.19	"how tf is it heavy handed? nothing about it is clumsy or contrived, it's told superbly through subtle details." [2]
budgie 07.11.19	"You mention Night of the Demons 2 but have you seen the first one?! Dude soooo good" ya first one is great, but i prefer the second
TheGreatQ 07.11.19	Lol the whole movie is basically getting punched in the face by someone screaming “GRIEF IS THE REAL MONSTER” how the fuck is it subtle? There’s a review on Letterboxd that sums it up perfectly: “Way, way too thematically blunt to be frightening [...] this film practically writes its own doctoral thesis, ‘Festering Grief And Post-Traumatic Transference As Id Monster In Contemporary Australian Horror.’”
DoofDoof 07.11.19	Watched the Babadook last night - enjoyed it, really psychologically oppressive and grim toned from start to finish near enough. A 7/10 for me personally, but could see it being 8+/10 if it rung some bells from your own life experience
tectactoe 07.11.19	I tend to agree that it's heavy-handed, though I also kind of get why lots of other people enjoy it. "...Where it misses big-time is how glaringly obvious the "subtext" is, to the point where it's essentially just text. Did anybody watching this not immediately realize it was an overt metaphor for living with depression and struggling to cope? In theory, I have no problem with this, but when transposing mental illnesses into a manuscript for a horror flick, subtlety is the key to making it work well as both. It should be a horror movie first and foremost with an underpinned assimilation of the mental illness. THE BABADOOK, by this measure, is inelegant and ham-fisted, too uncomfortably forceful with its Grand Message. It doesn’t play ostensibly like a horror movie. It plays like a movie about crippling depression that’s trying so hard to be a horror movie, too. Give the audience something to chew on, at least..."
DoofDoof 07.11.19	I thought it rendered a sort of sleep deprived psychosis and far too intense mother/child relationship pretty well. Nothing outside their home in society was really throwing them a bone...and so they retreat to a home environment that becomes a sort of twisted fantasy world...and then the seat of all horror/the past You really got the feeling of their world shrinking in to just the two people - and 'the boogeyman' It did a decent job I thought
tectactoe 07.11.19	Different strokes, etc. I haven't seen it since it was released, though, so I wonder if my feelings would change at all with a revisit. I do remember the kid being impressively annoying, though, and in a way that felt purposeful in how he added to the mother's descent into depression and psychosis.
DoofDoof 07.11.19	it was like a tag team - the 'babadook mania' switched from the son to the mother half way through...as I guess it was the mother who was the root of the child's behaviour, so she had to defeat babs - plus kill a dog for fun
Gyromania 07.11.19	yeah, honestly those criticisms seem super dumb to me. who cares if it became obvious what the metaphor was? it became more apparent towards the end, and then a dead giveaway at the very end, but it was presented so well. it doesn't need to be super ambiguous. it breaks away from the typical horror conventions and tells a more engaging story imo. and the psychological horror is something i relate to. seems like the author of those criticisms is quibbling over genre tags more than actually saying something valid. "it should be a horror movie first" says who?
Gyromania 07.11.19	def agree the kid was annoying af though, but that was kind of the point of illustrating her struggles with motherhood.
tectactoe 07.11.19	It's not really fair to dismiss other people's criticisms because you think they're "dumb," some people prefer a subtext to remain "sub," and there's nothing inherently wrong with that. Nor is there in enjoying something even when the intended metaphor is obvious. Like all art, movies and how we perceive them are entirely subjective, and I wasn't trying to convince you that THE BABADOOK isn't a good film, just spinning an opposing take on it, that's all. To me, if a film has a very clear subtext that becomes too obvious too quickly, it tends to make the narrative itself feel clunkier, in that everything suddenly acts in service of the director's grand metaphor. For a counterexample, COHERENCE blends its subtext discreetly (so discreetly, in fact, that most people overlook it completely in an attempt to "figure out" the pretzely narrative strands) in that the film could function independently of any allegory at all. THE BABADOOK, conversely, is so baked in with its subtext that it would shrivel into nothingness if you could theoretically remove it (or somehow overlook it). I dunno. That probably doesn't make sense but I'm trying to explain why the opacity of the underlying thematicism might matter to someone.
DoofDoof 07.11.19	“GRIEF IS THE REAL MONSTER” I don't really see why this is bad, it's the plot that the babadook is brought about by their depression/grief, they merge and mesh, I don't interpret it as subtext it seems like the main theme.
tectactoe 07.11.19	It is subtext, though, because IIRC (and it's been years, so forgive me if I'm mistaken), they never explicitly denote the monster as an embodiment of grief, they only convey that notion symbolically (a bit too forthright imo, but that's obviously the main point of contention here). Surface texture suggests a supernatural horror film, a subgenre with many films that don't contain any sort of metaphysical/psychoanalytical subtext, they exist purely as supernatural horrors. Just because something is indeed the main theme doesn't mean it isn't subtext, but THE BABADOOK's superficial conceit is that of a supernatural horror film.
DoofDoof 07.11.19	The creature either brings about visions/dreams of the dead father or metamorphoses into the father I thought, so whether it is real or imagined it seems to become an embodiment of grief in a way that I wouldn't describe as subtext - it seems to be the creature's entire modus operandi
tectactoe 07.11.19	I guess I'd have to see it again then; I don't recall much of it, and I certainly can't remember direct apparitions of the father. (Not saying you're wrong at all, I just have a poor memory, especially for films I didn't particularly vibe with upon first viewing.)
iglu 07.11.19	Annihilation is so bad
budgie 07.11.19	Whyyyy caaant uuuuu juuuust beeee noooormaaaaal
Gyromania 07.11.19	there is definitely a bit of subtext there, but just because i can piece it together without needing to see the movie 5 times and watch video analyses on it doesn't dampen my enjoyment of it. most horror movies are dumb as fuck and people who criticize act like it's in-line with those.
Gyromania 07.11.19	annihilation i could easily see someone not liking. that ending is... yeah idk
budgie 07.11.19	"grief the real monster" I thought the monster represented the urge to hate, and/or harm, the child, within the mind of the mother. and motherhood is supposed to be an ongoing process of dealing with those urges (like the babadook being shut away in the basement (of the mind of the mother)) Haven't seen since it came out though I don't remember much
iglu 07.11.19	not even the ending which was like weird but whatever acting is bad, dialogue is cringe and I fell asleep watching it which hasn't happened since idk when.
iglu 07.11.19	also anyone seen dark skies?, I found that one creepy.
tectactoe 07.11.19	Don't sleep on UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB because the original wasn't great. Honestly the boldest conceit for a horror movie since THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and it succeeds where the first one failed by ditching the supernatural angle completely. Very underrated flick.
budgie 07.11.19	i know i watched unfriended: dark web but i don't remember a single thing, lol. guess it didn't stand out to me, though i will make an effort to rewatch soon
Gyromania 07.11.19	i thought the original was actually pretty good... apparently everyone else thought it sucked? guess i'm a basic bitch lol. i also found the blair witch rematch somewhat entertaining (mostly the ending) so def a basic bitch
budgie 07.11.19	thought blair witch 2016 was dope, ppl were trippin on it for no reason.
Gyromania 07.11.19	glad someone else agrees. that creature that chases them through the house was terrifying, and that concept of being lured to turn around by dead loved ones was savage. idk wtf i'd do in that situation. i think the movie received like a 2/10 average but i don't get it. it isn't a thought provoking horror film but it doesn't need to be, hits on a visceral level imo
budgie 07.11.19	horror purists like to destroy reboots or whatever, idk. friday the 13th 2009 was fucking awesome, probably even my favorite in the franchise, and idk how much ppl hated that one.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Yeah Unfriended Dark Web is actually really good. And I’ll have no shit talking about Annihilation. Movie was awesome. Can’t believe I forgot to mention Megan Is Missing. Anyone seen it? OMFG, seriously one of the most disturbing movies I’ve ever seen — and I’ve seen tons upon tons of dark and disturbing movies as that’s sort of my forte. I have daughters so that makes it even more terrifying, but...trust. There’s a shot near the end that will shock and scar you for life. Warning: some of the acting is pretty bad. And first 20 mins are pretty awful because all the bad acting and it’s basically just teens partying. Just trust and keep watching, it gets MUCH better.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	I actually like the first Unfriended as well. Just really creative and well done. Not a horror movie but check out a movie called Searching. Similar type of stuff but so good and powerful. Amazing acting.
Chortles 07.11.19	i'm late but Wines is right, First Reformed is a true horror. fk me up Schrader
Larkinhill 07.11.19	As far as the Blair Witch reboot goes, I was really disappointed— but the last 20 mins were pretty great. The original is one of my favorite horror movies.
budgie 07.11.19	megan is missing was fucked up. the "opening" of the barrel fucked me up lol
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Yeah First Reformed is fantastic. Ethan Hawke is amazing in it. And that ending, goddamn.
budgie 07.11.19	some other fucked up films: funny games, eden lake, & the one i couldn't even finish: the girl next door (2007)
Gyromania 07.11.19	so much stuff to watch now. you guys really knocked it out of the park with the recs; been watching awesome fucking movies the past 3 days. forgot to tell whoever mentioned it, but the wailing is a god damn masterpiece. first reformed is next on my list, just downloaded that earlier. allow me to rec a movie to you guys that i think you'll love: Calibre (not horror, more suspenseful thriller, but it's chilling and anxiety-inducing stuff)
Larkinhill 07.11.19	megan is missing was fucked up. the "opening" of the barrel fucked me up lol Yup, exactly the shot I’m talking about! What in the ever living fuck?!? Fuck that director lol. Bastard. Such a mean spirited movie — loved it. Part of me wants to watch it again as it’s been years, but I don’t think it’s on Netflix or Prime anymore. Might have to buy the blu Ray.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	WTF, there are only three DVD copies on amazon and the cheapest is like $56. Yeeeeaaaah dunno about that.
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Will check out Calibre gyro!
Chortles 07.11.19	yes!! there were a few others spreading the good word on the Wailing but man it's just killer. the last act left me totally speechless when i first watched. really keen to give it another go sometime
Gyromania 07.11.19	cool, i think you'll definitely like it. i know rowan for sure would, budgie i'm not sure but prob
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Damn I haven’t seen The Wailing. Gonna check it out.
ramon. 07.11.19	gonna add the lighthouse even though i havent seen it because its supposedly a step up from the witch and eggers is already from that movie alone basically my favourite director right now everyone should watch the wailing, some high tier shit
Larkinhill 07.11.19	Dude I am so incredibly hyped for The Lighthouse. It’s going to be epically good.
Gyromania 07.11.19	yeah can't wait for the lighthouse.
budgie 07.11.19	one of you dudes got to watch YellowBrickRoad (2010)
Gyromania 07.11.19	i did, it's terrible
Gyromania 07.11.19	jk i'll check it out
Larkinhill 07.12.19	Y’all should check out Absentia, One of Mike Flanagan’s first films before he blew up. It’s definitely flawed and has some questionable acting, but has a creepy vibe and some good scenes. Used to be on Netflix, not sure if it is anymore. Worth watching though.
budgie 07.12.19	been meaning to check absentia for a long while. hush, oculus, ouiji: origin of evil, haunting of hill house, gerald's game, were all great
Larkinhill 07.12.19	Agreed! Gerald’s Game And Haunted Hill were especially great. So hyped for Dr Sleep. He hasn’t steered us wrong yet.
Gyromania 07.12.19	Hill House rly fell off the latter half
PunchforPunch 07.12.19	You're welcome Gyno
budgie 07.12.19	gyno lol.
Larkinhill 07.12.19	@gyro whaaaaaa....???!!! Dude I’m disappointed in you lol. It was fantastic until the end.
budgie 07.12.19	which "cycle" was your favorite? i think i liked the junkie brothers' series of episodes the most. and agreed the ending kinda unraveled almost everything, idk. the whole thing left me frustrated and i miss it lol
Larkinhill 07.12.19	Really looking forward to season 2 (all new characters, setting and story).
Rowan5215 07.12.19	Nell's episode and the one right after with the long take shots were top tier horror. Immediately after those it got kind of shit
budgie 07.12.19	the episode (6?) with the long shots reminded me SO much of lake mungo, as if it took serious inspiration from that film. pay close attention with the last couple of minutes. "i was right here but none of you were noticing me"
budgie 07.12.19	when was trollhunter added to this list, did you watch it gyro
Gyromania 07.12.19	yessir
budgie 07.13.19	you were supposed to have been like "oh budge you were right it's such a cool film haha"
Aerisavion 07.13.19	Some favourites, not all straight up horror but worth a watch anyway. We Are Still Here (2015) - Kubrick-esque ghost horror. Ravenous (1999) - Black Comedy/Horror Hard Candy (2005) - Thriller. Go in as blind as you can. Bone Tomahawk (2015) - Horror/thriller western The Descent (2005) - You’ve probably seen it, if you haven’t then get on that shit
budgie 07.13.19	i didn't like any of those
Larkinhill 07.13.19	Dude Bone and Descent are amazing. We Are Still Here is decent. Hard Candy is really good.
budgie 07.13.19	i thought always the descent was great since it came out, and it's had a super high opinion i guess, but nevertheless, i rewatched it the other year and thought it was just bad. i know that's not a common opinion though. bone tomahawk i didn't like because patrick wilson annoys me and the cave setting in the last act was too stupid, like, cannibal native americans make perfect jails inside a cave? ravenous is a dope film but my horror buddy thinks it's the best film ever made so i always bag on ravenous lol. it's a good film though. we are still here was just nonsense i tried to enjoy it twice and thought it was lousy both times but hey everyone digs things differently i guess i'm just not the kinda guy to dig we are still here.
Larkinhill 07.13.19	Damn dude, I’ve rewatched The Descent dozens of times over the years and it still holds up for me. One of my favorite horror movies. Fuck I love Patrick Wilson! Not really horror, but Netflix announced today that Mindhunters season 2 is coming on in August. Hyped! Fucking love, love that show.
budgie 07.14.19	anyone see crawl?
Aerisavion 07.14.19	Yeah I want some opinions on Crawl too if it’s as good as Rogue (2007) I’m sold.
Gyromania 07.16.19	The Descent is an awesome horror movie and a favourite of mine. That ending scene with the birthday cake is devastating . Going to see Midsommar in a few hours!
Aerisavion 07.16.19	Keep us updated Gyro I’m not far off either.
Gyromania 07.17.19	midsommar was good although a highly pretentious film tbh. i feel it was lacking in subtext, unlike hereditary (which i have to say i do feel is a much better film). the performances in midsommar were stellar and it was pretty unsettling. it didn't seem to really go anywhere per se though. i feel like the story could have been better. gorgeous looking movie though, and the sound design is so so so fucking good. the theatre i saw it in had me tripping out as i heard laughs coming from behind me and all around me. at first i thought it was people in the theatre but nope, just really good mixing and surround sound when they're tripping on drugs and see all the flowers moving, that was cool af. visually quite stunning. the editing and camera work were generally fantastic and some of the best i've seen in recent memory. a little too often towards the end the movie seemed to be kind of weird for the sake of it though. a lot of things lacked context. but upon looking up film analyses afterwards, i was disappointed to find out that nothing really went over my head. i was hoping i missed something, some strands i could connect together to appreciate the film more. i found out more about real midsommar and how some things in the movie relate to real life, but otherwise all the messages (i perceived the movie more as a break up movie with bits of horror sprinkled in with a good dose of humour, and of course rebirth at the end) i got right off the bat
Gyromania 07.17.19	only thing i can really theorize about is the swedish dude who lured them there having a part in the death of her family. he said "i was most excited that you came" as if he knew she'd make a good may queen, as if there was some kind of intervention there in the death of her sister and parents that led her to that place. there's no solid evidence to suggest that's what happened, but after seeing his true colours i wouldn't be that surprised. except the lives he took were for an offering to the gods, so i'm not sure if murdering a family in america would meet the criteria for that lol. the beginning was super unsettling though - hereditary levels of fucked. i was kind of disappointed they never really returned to that moment other than her having creepy dreams about her dead family. seeing her mom as a face in the crowd as she was being crowned queen was also more of the surreal shit i was hoping to see in the film. again, i wish it were a bit more supernatural, because really all of the strange happenings can just be explained by them being stoned. the pacing in hereditary was similarly slow in the middle, but you could feel the tension building. the growing silence and disassociation as the family slips further into madness. everything felt deliberate, and there was so much to unpack. in midsommar it seems like the only things to unpack are some of the symbols we see early on, which i researched and was happy to find correlated to events in the movie - such as characters wearing robes with symbols foretelling their demise, or symbols on the walls in the sleeping quarters. other easter eggs were awesome, like that long top-down shot at the start as an homage to the shining, and the dude with his lungs pulled through his back still breathing, that's an old viking torture technique i knew about prior to watching the movie. or josh who goes to bed with his shoes on, actually a reference to another cult irl whose members died in bed with their shoes on after being poisoned. there's cool stuff like that, but nothing really essential to deepening my appreciation of the plot like there was in hereditary (like all the ways in which the worshippers of paimon tried to entice her to look into spirituality throughout the movie). and the movie also bears sooo much in common with the wickerman, maybe even arguably too much. damn that ended up being long. movie is prob an 8/10 for me. i'm definitely (obviously) left thinking about a lot. many of the images are stuck in my mind. maybe i'll grow to love it more upon a second viewing. i definitely do think it dragged in parts though, and it seems at times intentionally inaccessible (watching it with my roommates was kind of awkward at times lol)
Gyromania 07.17.19	as for the "missing context" followed by "nothing went over my head" which i realize sounds contradictory, i meant what they were doing in the cult seemed to lack explanation a lot of the time. (like the quick breath in and out) or their random singing and groaning and shouting etc. the themes and plot don't appear to have anything deeper to them, it was the small shit that lacked context, thus the pretentiousness i alluded to. those parts seemed very self-indulgent to me
tectactoe 07.17.19	I thought MIDSOMMAR was merely okay. Not to devolve into the previous discussion re THE BABADOOK, I think the subtext is way, waaaay to rushed and flimsy to support a two-and-a-half hour spectacle of ritualistic what-the-fuckery. Honestly Aster should've just completely foregone any subtext (that twenty minute, relationship establishing "prologue" is just so weak imo) and created a thoroughbred horror film. Not everything needs to be an allegory or serve as a metaphor. But when you are very clearly trying to add a subtextual layer to your film, you need to follow through, otherwise it comes off very half-assed and undernourished.
Gyromania 07.17.19	yeah the run time was an issue for me too
budgie 07.17.19	what was the subtext in hereditary? i just watched it and viewed it as a simple demon summoning story (a good story but no subtextual allegories like in the Babadook or maybe It Follows)
budgie 07.18.19	OHHHH i totally forgot to add a film to my top list, lol, one i loved so much: BAD MATCH. watch that motherfucker. so good.
Larkinhill 07.18.19	Damn I’ll have to check it out man.
Egarran 07.24.19	The worst thing about Hereditary is I'll have to watch it again because I missed a lot of clever details. And it's grueling! On the other hand, knowing the plot actually softens some of the tragedy. E.g. knowing that Charlie is possessed and destined makes her decapitation less impactful. Budgie, the subtext is that you can't escape occult epigenetics. Your entire life may have been pre-planned as a simple stepping stone for demons entering our world. Maybe even metaphorically, too. Oblivious normie humans are just basic tools for Satan/grandparents. Trollhunter: 3/5 IT: 3.5/5 Annihilation: 4/5 (_Do not_ read the second book in this trilogy) Cabin in the Woods: 4.5/5 The VVitch: 3.5/5 The Ritual: 3/5 (All BM fans must read the book) Hereditary: 4.5/5 The Babadook: 4/5
Larkinhill 07.24.19	Speaking of Hereditary, I finally rewatched it last night. I hadn’t seen it since theaters and remembered the basic gist of the end, but not in full detail. But it was enough to pick up on all the little clues sprinkled throughout the duration of the movie. Really clever stuff. They did a good job of making the ending and everything leading up to it organic and making it make sense, without people being able to pick up on it. Definitely preferred it this second time. Really smart movie.
budgie 07.24.19	"Budgie, the subtext is that you can't escape occult epigenetics." that's not subtext i've never met a religious person in my life
Sowing 07.24.19	Haven't seen all of these but The Witch and IT are incredible
butt. 07.25.19	Yes!! A man of fine taste
Egarran 07.25.19	>i've never met a religious person in my life I may agree with this, but I would like to know more.