I can't agree that 'IT' was scary. The book terrified me as a twelve year old, but even then I found the miniseries laughable (although Tim Curry was, as usual, excellent). It just suffered from being a miniseries (in that it was naturally restricted in what it could show) and had some the worst writing I've heard in any supposedly scary show. If I recall, the main female character, Beverly, at one point laments, 'why is IT so meeeaaaan?'. I burst out laughing. This is a shape-shifting demonic entity that kills children and feasts on their fear as well as their flesh. Someone 'mean' comes off as a little inadequate!
HeHe!,very true.It's like calling Freddy Kruger 'a bit of a rogue'.:D
My fave is The Eye (original 2002 film), especially the elevator scene.
I don't mind admitting the lift scene had me covering my face with a cinema pamphlet. Good performance and a well-structured scene. I do dislike the last quarter of the film, though. Should have ended earlier.
Safe to say I have never gone anywhere near the US remake. I like many Asian horror films and the US remakes always spoil them for me, taking out the very thing that makes them special - the mystery and the bleakness.
To be fair, it does sometimes need to be changed because what scares people in the west doesn't scare people in the east, and vice versa.
For example, basements and attics give people in English countries the creeps, but it doesn't faze most people in most Asian countries. On the other hand, bathrooms and dirty water generally freak Japanese people out (hence, the water/bathroom presence in Japanese horror films like Dark Water, Cure, Organ, The Grudge, St John's Wort, The Complex, etc) while bathrooms and water don't freak people in English countries out. Anyway:
The US remake of Dark Water isn't that bad. Writers have amended certain social issues, to suit the US market, without changing the overall structure of the story drastically. I think their amendments work.
Mirrors is a US remake of Into the Mirror, and this is where it gets interesting. Into the Mirror might be marketed as a South Korean horror film, but it's at heart a supernatural/SF murder mystery. Mirrors is better as a horror film.
I disliked Ring (Ringu) and thought The Ring (US) was an improvement on Ring as a horror film, but Ring is better than The Ring as a mystery film.
The Echo is a pretty decent remake of Sigaw, a Filipino film.
Pulse, a US remake of Kairo, is terrible, which I didn't think was possible as Kairo is a badly-made film. Who am I kidding? Kairo is crap. It does offer a few creepy moments, but that's all it offers.
Dark Water(original Japanese version.)is quite something to behold.Truly terrifying and disturbing.
Of course,C4 and all the rest choose to show the usual 28 Days Later and The Day After Tomorrow fare.For the 1000th time.:(
True,very scary.But the ending was the biggest anti climax to a film I think I've ever seen.As if they couldn't be bothered finishing it right.:(
Yes yes yes! Still feel cheated all these years later! I was really scared of the clown when IT came out but after I found out it was Tim Curry I was less scared but still impressed - he's great!
Dark Water(original Japanese version.)is quite something to behold.Truly terrifying and disturbing.
Of course,C4 and all the rest choose to show the usual 28 Days Later and The Day After Tomorrow fare.For the 1000th time.:(
Yes I agree. I got Dark Water on DVD when it was first released and it was extremely unnerving. The US remake wasn't too bad. I actually preferred the US version of The Ring as I was getting confused with the female characters in the Japanese one as they looked very similar.
OP - Freaks may be an interesting film to include in your media project!
It was made in 1932 and was only released after heavy censoring and a "happier ending" introduced. Almost 30 minutes were cut and the first release was only an hour long. It was banned in the UK for over 30 years. The Director, Tod Browning, drew on his personal experiences gained while a member of a traveling circus. The controversial aspect of the film was mainly because actual "freaks" were used. Forgive me for using this term.
Sadly there is not a complete version of the film as apparently much of the censored material has been lost over the years. This particular scene was considered one of the more frightening and was, in itself censored. Tame by today's standards of course but interesting all the same in my opinion:
Just watched Insidious for the first time this week.It was scary but I thought Paranormal Activity was scarier.'What was that noise?' in the middle of the night.:eek:
Don't mention the crab walk!!!!! Horrible!!!! :eek::eek::eek:
Never saw the movie, the book freaked me out too much and 'the crab walk' is the one thing I STILL remember from the book, can't remember anything else, just that! :eek::eek::eek:
Still gives me the creeps after all those years and I read it when it first came out, can't remember when, but loooong time ago.
Drag Me to Hell, but its hilarious too.
Mama
The Eye
I think that's what makes Drag me to hell really good, one second your laughing then the next your jumping out your skin.
I liked Mama too, well most of it until the weird ending which I'm undecided about.
I've got the new Childs play to watch tonight - the curse of chucky
The childs play movies & the Leprechaun movies are my guilty pleasures when it comes to scarey movies.
Don't mention the crab walk!!!!! Horrible!!!! :eek::eek::eek:
When I read the book , that particular description of the crab walk freaked me out, and so I thought the scene in the movie would not do it justice.
I was wrong, it's brilliantly done and incredibly creepy.
Also in this updated version there are random images of the demon throughout, seeing an image of the demon unexpectedly reflected in the cooker hood really added to the tension and atmosphere and scared the bejesus out of me,hehe.
When I read the book , that particular description of the crab walk freaked me out, and so I thought the scene in the movie would not do it justice.
I was wrong, it's brilliantly done and incredibly creepy.
Also in this updated version there are random images of the demon throughout, seeing an image of the demon unexpectedly reflected in the cooker hood really added to the tension and atmosphere and scared the bejesus out of me,hehe.
I've got the updated version I think but haven't watched it for years. After all the hype of the film, I finally watched it when I was in my mid-teens. Unfortunately that was in the 1990s and I had already seen Leslie Nielsen's spoof complete with Linda Blair, Repossessed so it dampened my fear down a bit!!! Was still scary though and when I bought the DVD years later and saw that damn crab walk I nearly had to have therapy over it! :eek::eek:
I've got the updated version I think but haven't watched it for years. After all the hype of the film, I finally watched it when I was in my mid-teens. Unfortunately that was in the 1990s and I had already seen Leslie Nielsen's spoof complete with Linda Blair, Repossessed so it dampened my fear down a bit!!! Was still scary though and when I bought the DVD years later and saw that damn crab walk I nearly had to have therapy over it! :eek::eek:
Haha, glad it's not just me that found the crab walk depiction bloody terrifying .
It's been a few years since I last watched it so I think I'll make time to watch it again this week.
Comments
HeHe!,very true.It's like calling Freddy Kruger 'a bit of a rogue'.:D
To be fair, it does sometimes need to be changed because what scares people in the west doesn't scare people in the east, and vice versa.
For example, basements and attics give people in English countries the creeps, but it doesn't faze most people in most Asian countries. On the other hand, bathrooms and dirty water generally freak Japanese people out (hence, the water/bathroom presence in Japanese horror films like Dark Water, Cure, Organ, The Grudge, St John's Wort, The Complex, etc) while bathrooms and water don't freak people in English countries out. Anyway:
The US remake of Dark Water isn't that bad. Writers have amended certain social issues, to suit the US market, without changing the overall structure of the story drastically. I think their amendments work.
Mirrors is a US remake of Into the Mirror, and this is where it gets interesting. Into the Mirror might be marketed as a South Korean horror film, but it's at heart a supernatural/SF murder mystery. Mirrors is better as a horror film.
I disliked Ring (Ringu) and thought The Ring (US) was an improvement on Ring as a horror film, but Ring is better than The Ring as a mystery film.
The Echo is a pretty decent remake of Sigaw, a Filipino film.
Pulse, a US remake of Kairo, is terrible, which I didn't think was possible as Kairo is a badly-made film. Who am I kidding? Kairo is crap. It does offer a few creepy moments, but that's all it offers.
Of course,C4 and all the rest choose to show the usual 28 Days Later and The Day After Tomorrow fare.For the 1000th time.:(
Yes yes yes! Still feel cheated all these years later! I was really scared of the clown when IT came out but after I found out it was Tim Curry I was less scared but still impressed - he's great!
Yes I agree. I got Dark Water on DVD when it was first released and it was extremely unnerving. The US remake wasn't too bad. I actually preferred the US version of The Ring as I was getting confused with the female characters in the Japanese one as they looked very similar.
This is a brilliant film.
Have you seen the 2007 remake "Freakshow" ? This is very disturbing !
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0906005/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Lake Mungo
The Descent
This is why the U.S had to resort to making crappy U.S remakes of East Asian classics.
Mama
The Eye
The Exorcist ( The version you've never seen ) Which includes Regan's creepy crab walk )
The Entity.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076683/
Salem's Lot (1979)
And...
The Omen (1976).
And also its sequel (three, counted as two).
my favourite it Texas chainsaw massacre 1974
Phantasm, an old cult film offers up those horrible bizarre images with plenty of eerie silences throughout.
Just watched Insidious for the first time this week.It was scary but I thought Paranormal Activity was scarier.'What was that noise?' in the middle of the night.:eek:
Don't mention the crab walk!!!!! Horrible!!!! :eek::eek::eek:
Never saw the movie, the book freaked me out too much and 'the crab walk' is the one thing I STILL remember from the book, can't remember anything else, just that! :eek::eek::eek:
Still gives me the creeps after all those years and I read it when it first came out, can't remember when, but loooong time ago.
I think that's what makes Drag me to hell really good, one second your laughing then the next your jumping out your skin.
I liked Mama too, well most of it until the weird ending which I'm undecided about.
I've got the new Childs play to watch tonight - the curse of chucky
The childs play movies & the Leprechaun movies are my guilty pleasures when it comes to scarey movies.
When I read the book , that particular description of the crab walk freaked me out, and so I thought the scene in the movie would not do it justice.
I was wrong, it's brilliantly done and incredibly creepy.
Also in this updated version there are random images of the demon throughout, seeing an image of the demon unexpectedly reflected in the cooker hood really added to the tension and atmosphere and scared the bejesus out of me,hehe.
I've got the updated version I think but haven't watched it for years. After all the hype of the film, I finally watched it when I was in my mid-teens. Unfortunately that was in the 1990s and I had already seen Leslie Nielsen's spoof complete with Linda Blair, Repossessed so it dampened my fear down a bit!!! Was still scary though and when I bought the DVD years later and saw that damn crab walk I nearly had to have therapy over it! :eek::eek:
Haha, glad it's not just me that found the crab walk depiction bloody terrifying .
It's been a few years since I last watched it so I think I'll make time to watch it again this week.