Latest Movie That You Watched!

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Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
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You're right. They reference him (as he is referenced in countless movies and tv). It just made me think of an interview where Carpenter emphasized he is not meant to actually represent King, just a similar writer. He also writes quite different novels from King. Even books of King, like Revival, which have strong Lovecraftian elements, are not Lovecraftian as a whole. The Sutter Cane books give the impression they are completely like Lovecraft's. Also the movie's title is like a Lovecraft title, close to At the Mountains of Madness.
You’re right, but one thing that can be said is that despite both of them being well known for their influence in the horror genre, they are not exclusively horror content creators. For example King has written quite a few works in the Fantasy and Dystopian genres. While Carpenter has done more in the Sci-fi and action genre.

Eyes of the Dragon and The Long Walk are to King what Big Trouble in Little China and Assault on Precinct 13 are to Carpenter.

I think the defining points of their storytelling styles is that King uses wit to describe almost everything regardless of how disturbing it is, and Carpenter tells his stories more through over the top cutting-edge practical effects.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
I tried to rank Carpenter's films one time on another site (which is hard because I like pretty much all of them to a degree) and came up with this, from best to worst:

1. Big Trouble in Little China
2. Prince of Darkness
3. The Thing
4. Escape from New York
5. Assault on Precinct 13
6. The Fog
7. Halloween
8. They Live
9. In the Mouth of Madness
10. Christine
11. Escape from L.A.
12. Starman
13. Vampires
14. Someone's Watching Me
15. The Ward
16. Dark Star
17. Village of the Damned
18. Ghosts of Mars

Memoirs of an Invisible Man is missing, as well as the tv-movie Elvis, because I don't remember them too well. I also excluded tv-episodes like Masters of Horror and Body Bags, because tv is quite different from film.
It's purely personal preference, not me trying to figure out what are the best films in terms of structure or other more 'objective' criteria.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
You’re right, but one thing that can be said is that despite both of them being well known for their influence in the horror genre, they are not exclusively horror content creators. For example King has written quite a few works in the Fantasy and Dystopian genres. While Carpenter has done more in the Sci-fi and action genre.

Eyes of the Dragon and The Long Walk are to King what Big Trouble in Little China and Assault on Precinct 13 are to Carpenter.

I think the defining points of their storytelling styles is that King uses wit to describe almost everything regardless of how disturbing it is, and Carpenter tells his stories more through over the top cutting-edge practical effects.

You're comparing Carpenter to King. I was comparing Sutter Cane to King...

One thing I like about Carpenter is the importance of music. The music is very central in my opinion. I asked him once about it, and was surprised he composes/improvises the music AFTER the shooting of the film. During the making of the film he does not think of the music at all. Which is surprising because the images and the music fit so close and complement each other so strongly.
It's similar to Dario Argento's films (that Carpenter is a huge fan of), although in his case the music (by Goblin/Claudio Simonetti) is often composed during the shooting and in some cases, like Suspiria, played on the set. This was also something Sergio Leone used to do.
Also in some of Hitchcock's best known films (Vertigo, Psycho) the music is very central.
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
I tried to rank Carpenter's films one time on another site (which is hard because I like pretty much all of them to a degree) and came up with this, from best to worst:

1. Big Trouble in Little China
2. Prince of Darkness
3. The Thing
4. Escape from New York
5. Assault on Precinct 13
6. The Fog
7. Halloween
8. They Live
9. In the Mouth of Madness
10. Christine
11. Escape from L.A.
12. Starman
13. Vampires
14. Someone's Watching Me
15. The Ward
16. Dark Star
17. Village of the Damned
18. Ghosts of Mars

Memoirs of an Invisible Man is missing, as well as the tv-movie Elvis, because I don't remember them too well. I also excluded tv-episodes like Masters of Horror and Body Bags, because tv is quite different from film.
It's purely personal preference, not me trying to figure out what are the best films in terms of structure or other more 'objective' criteria.
I recommend checking out the YouTube channel Ryan Hollinger, he is a British youtuber who’s channel is dedicated to analyzing the story telling of modern horror movies and is one of my favorite youtube channels currently. One of his recent episodes is about if Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars is really as bad as most people remember it to be. His analyzing style is very similar to your own.
 

osnafrank

Well-Known Member
Jan 24, 2017
7,121
50,822
47
Germany
Do you read Sutter Cane? :p

It is a good movie. I wouldn't say it's Carpenter's best film. That will always be The Thing. It's up there though. Definitely his best film of the 90's.

Similarly freaky films are Event Horizon and Jacob's Ladder

Event
Horizon is essentially a Lovecraft story set in outer space.

Jacob's Ladder is a whole other level of freaky.

Aggree, and a good one
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
I recommend checking out the YouTube channel Ryan Hollinger, he is a British youtuber who’s channel is dedicated to analyzing the story telling of modern horror movies and is one of my favorite youtube channels currently. One of his recent episodes is about if Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars is really as bad as most people remember it to be. His analyzing style is very similar to your own.

I'll keep that in mind.

Ghosts of Mars tries to be a movie it can't be on the budget it was made. For example, they didn't have the money to make the titular 'ghosts' the way they were meant to be - so you get people looking like they belong in a Marilyn Manson video.
It was a film with an awful lot of bad luck, and sent Carpenter to retire from making movies for a long time.
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
I'll keep that in mind.

Ghosts of Mars tries to be a movie it can't be on the budget it was made. For example, they didn't have the money to make the titular 'ghosts' the way they were meant to be - so you get people looking like they belong in a Marilyn Manson video.
It was a film with an awful lot of bad luck, and sent Carpenter to retire from making movies for a long time.
The early 2000’s were a relatively bad time for horror movies. Just over -the-top gore and terrible lighting and special effects, like you said, a Marilyn Manson music video. One thing I hate about early 2000’s horror movies is that they loved to do really fast paced editing styles so you can barely see what’s going on, not to mention the lighting already making it hard to tell what’s trying to happen.
 

Gerald

Well-Known Member
Sep 8, 2011
2,201
7,168
The Netherlands
The early 2000’s were a relatively bad time for horror movies. Just over -the-top gore and terrible lighting and special effects, like you said, a Marilyn Manson music video. One thing I hate about early 2000’s horror movies is that they loved to do really fast paced editing styles so you can barely see what’s going on, not to mention the lighting already making it hard to tell what’s trying to happen.

You mean flash cut sequences? They still use those sometimes to create a subliminal effect. There was a time when they used those more frequently indeed. I wouldn't say those are favourites of mine either generally, they just go by too fast. You sometimes really have to pause them on a dvd to see what they are precisely. It was just something new they tried to bring to them. I think it's always good to try to do new things, otherwise it would always look the same. What really doesn't work will disappear after a time.
 

Tery

Say hello to my fishy buddy
Moderator
Apr 12, 2006
15,304
44,712
Bremerton, Washington, United States
Finally saw Get Out. It was great at engendering unease, you felt Chris was in trouble from the get-go. I enjoyed the ending. Also watched (don't hit me for not seeing it before) Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Yeah, it was silly but it had a couple of nuggets. And I liked that the klowns were all different instead of uniform. Fun popcorn film.
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
Finally saw Get Out. It was great at engendering unease, you felt Chris was in trouble from the get-go. I enjoyed the ending. Also watched (don't hit me for not seeing it before) Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Yeah, it was silly but it had a couple of nuggets. And I liked that the klowns were all different instead of uniform. Fun popcorn film.
Killer Klowns is a classic comedy horror film, I think it’s better and funnier than other famous films from the genre like Little shop of Horrors or Gremlins
 

Tery

Say hello to my fishy buddy
Moderator
Apr 12, 2006
15,304
44,712
Bremerton, Washington, United States
Killer Klowns is a classic comedy horror film, I think it’s better and funnier than other famous films from the genre like Little shop of Horrors or Gremlins

I'd put it between Gremlins (which I love) and LSOH (the non-musical one). We enjoyed it. I'm putting some really obscure films on my watch list due to the HMAD book and That Was A Bit Mental. I'm up for them, though. I do appreciate being told what to expect sometimes so I know to avoid, say... Cannibal Holocaust. And both reviewers are quite funny so it's just fun to read anyway. The both have websites, too. But the Horror Movie A Day one is just archives as he stopped doing that.
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
I'd put it between Gremlins (which I love) and LSOH (the non-musical one). We enjoyed it. I'm putting some really obscure films on my watch list due to the HMAD book and That Was A Bit Mental. I'm up for them, though. I do appreciate being told what to expect sometimes so I know to avoid, say... Cannibal Holocaust. And both reviewers are quite funny so it's just fun to read anyway. The both have websites, too. But the Horror Movie A Day one is just archives as he stopped doing that.
Oh boy, the infamous Cannibal Holocaust, the opening scene of that movie is just landscape shots of some pretty landscapes straight out of a Bob Ross painting, but then the actual Cannibal Holocausting starts (so I’ve been told)
 

Tery

Say hello to my fishy buddy
Moderator
Apr 12, 2006
15,304
44,712
Bremerton, Washington, United States
Oh boy, the infamous Cannibal Holocaust, the opening scene of that movie is just landscape shots of some pretty landscapes straight out of a Bob Ross painting, but then the actual Cannibal Holocausting starts (so I’ve been told)
The review explains that there are actual animal deaths shown so that was a real turn-off for me. The producer/director did cut all of those out in his latest release of it but, still, no. Because the fake deaths are horrible, too. Nope.
 

Wayoftheredpanda

Flaming Wonder Telepath
May 15, 2018
4,907
22,094
20
The review explains that there are actual animal deaths shown so that was a real turn-off for me. The producer/director did cut all of those out in his latest release of it but, still, no. Because the fake deaths are horrible, too. Nope.
Yes, I love method acting and realistic effects in filmmaking as much as the next person, but I can’t stand the idea of film makers actually hurting animals in order for their horror films to be more realistic, this is why I’ve never watched the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
 

fljoe0

Cantre Member
Apr 5, 2008
15,859
71,642
62
120 miles S of the Pancake/Waffle line
Harold & Maude (1970) Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort

This is my all time favorite romantic comedy. I don't know what it says about me that my favorite romantic comedy is between a 20 year old guy and an 80 year old woman. :) It's an amazing job by the director and cast that they could pull this off without being gross. This movie is dark and hilarious. I have the Criterion Collection Blu-ray of this and if you want to watch this movie, I would recommend finding the Criterion collection version. The older versions are washed out looking and the Criterion version looks and sounds great. In the bonus material, there is an interview with Cat Stevens about his soundtrack that is interesting. He said the original songs of his in the movie were actually demos. Cat Stevens gave the director the demos to work with and planned to go to the studio and finish the tracks but the movie wrapped before he finished the tracks and the demos ended up in the soundtrack. The songs sound great in the movie and I had never heard that they were not the version Cat Stevens had intended. As far as I can find, the soundtrack has never been released on cd.

This movie did not do well at the box office or with the critics when it was released but is now considered a classic.

(I may have a few more posts in this thread. I did almost nothing this weekend but watch movies :))