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Post by lazario on Nov 9, 2007 6:24:15 GMT -5
Yeah, but you also said before that without Halloween, Carpenter doesn't have a leg to stand on.
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Post by Evil Dave on Nov 9, 2007 12:14:09 GMT -5
^^^ When I said that, I meant with fans of Horror in general. I didn't mean with me. If you take Halloween off his resume, he definitely wouldn't be the icon in the general Horror community that he is. He'd be considered good, but not a god. With me however, he'd be just fine because of making movies like The Thing. Hope that clears everything up.
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Post by lazario on Nov 10, 2007 21:25:41 GMT -5
The Fog trumps The Thing any old day.
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Post by tsmooth31 on Nov 10, 2007 23:45:21 GMT -5
i hated the fog..it had some good atmosphere..but i just didnt like it
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Post by Evil Dave on Nov 11, 2007 5:53:16 GMT -5
I'm not a fan of The Fog either. Not because it isn't well crafted, but because I don't find pirates or ghosts to be scary at all.
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Post by lazario on Nov 11, 2007 8:55:47 GMT -5
You know, I don't think pirates are really scary either. But... some people do. I mean- remember The Goonies? For some reason, I guess a lot of people think or actually do have some kind of fear or quandry about what pirates were. They certainly were vicious back in their day.
But I'm not so sure that's the whole thing people are supposed to be afraid of in that movie. The way it's shot... that fog is everywhere. In places fog should never be. It's very imposing. It works on several levels. Like looking outside your window and seeing a tornado you didn't notice before 2 seconds away from ripping your house to shreds... (just one example, maybe not so good)
I thought The Fog was scary. And when I saw it, I wasn't a kid either. So it still works...if you want it to. If the viewer chooses to be real grown up about it and not just say, "well it's pirates." Do you go, "well, Chucky's just a doll. That's not scary"? Besides- it doesn't matter. Because if you remember, nothing could stop them. They were inhuman, had glowing eyes, very few human characteristics at all. That works on the- you can't reason with them. And... nothing could stop them. Don't underestimate that quality.
And I know what you mean about ghosts. That's why these 'pirates' look more like very tough zombies. And by tough, I mean, you can't just chop off their head and they'll fall down and they're gone.
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Post by Evil Dave on Nov 11, 2007 16:25:05 GMT -5
I agree with you about how the "fog" was effectively portrayed as an impending doom, that could not be stopped. I thought that part of the film really came off well. Carpenter really did do a nice job with the atmosphere; the fog rolling in works a lot like a "swarm factor" in other movies (e.g. all the well done zombie flicks, the hordes of spiders in Arachnophobia). Very effective way to leave the viewer not only on the edge of their seat, but also helpless. So I don't fault the movie at all for me not enjoying it as much as other people, it's just that ghosts/pirates don't float my boat, so to speak. (pun definitely intended! ;D )
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Post by lazario on Nov 11, 2007 19:00:54 GMT -5
Oh yeah.
I kind of like ghosts, but in the tradition of like William Castle's ghosts. Mostly they were portrayed as the walking dead. Like in 13 Ghosts, there's a zombie-like being in the daughter's bedroom. And there's a great scene in Hell Night that seems to harken back to William Castle's ghosts / zombies that always had chains or cobwebs or rotten skin. Oh, and... as much as the movie itself is an embarrassment- 1981's Ghost Story had an amazing looking zombie-ghost. That scene at the bridge for instance. I always go- "holy shit!" when I see that.
And pirates are silly. But- Carpenter did the look of those very well. They were green, slimy, and had glowing beedy red eyes. I guess I was kind of set up for that because the pirates in that Garfield Halloween Adventure special as a kid did in fact spook me out a little. But they also had eerie (and damn cool) music and actually managed to do atmosphere and preface the coming of the ghosts very well with a kind of dread. It's still scary, in a way. Even though it's for kids.
But when I see the movie, I don't even look at them as pirates. In fact, who even says the word "pirate" in the whole movie? But, I think there's a lot of schlock in Carpenter's movies. I mean, smokin' dope in Halloween. Stupid one-liners in The Thing. They Live (no more need be said, the whole movie's a gag). The intestines in the movie projector in Cigarette Burns. James Woods in Vampires (straight-up schlock, nothing serious about him in that movie).
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Post by malbowski13 on Nov 24, 2007 18:34:41 GMT -5
I thought that The Fog had a great atmosphere to it.Spooky in parts and a decent ending. I would have to classify it as a "Paranormal Horror" where The Thing was more Sci-Fi.Can't really compare the two imo. P.S. The Thing has one of my favorite endings ever.After all the shit that goes down in a number of movies, you can't just walk off into the sunset...
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Post by lazario on Nov 24, 2007 20:54:31 GMT -5
The ending to The Thing was okay... In fact, at best, the better moments in The Thing were only okay. The Fog however, was outstanding. There's just nothing like it. One of the greatest ghost-themed horror movies ever. Completely satisfying. The Thing just overloaded the film with a big cast of people, so they could use them all as dead bodies.
Eh, just not as special as everyone says.
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Post by malbowski13 on Nov 25, 2007 16:14:29 GMT -5
Imo, Big Trouble in Little China is his greatest work.I don't think that Halloween has aged too well.(still like two better) I think that everyone can be in agreement about The Fog remake... huge floating nugget of celluloid!
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Post by lazario on Nov 26, 2007 14:36:25 GMT -5
Halloween remains eternal. It doesn't have to age well according to today's standards. Fuck today's standards- 99% of everything in horror made today is pure garbage. Halloween has it's own standards. And most every other slasher film is just playing catchup to it.
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Post by malbowski13 on Nov 27, 2007 19:44:41 GMT -5
I'm going to get blasted for this but the remake was far more enjoyable.Take the spooky music away and Dr.Loomis.... nut much left.Sorry John!
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Post by tsmooth31 on Nov 27, 2007 22:30:02 GMT -5
^^ the only one that will blast you is laz..every1 else here can and will respect your opinion
the original halloween is ok..nothing great but it wasnt bad..i still havent seen the remake
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Post by lazario on Nov 27, 2007 23:00:05 GMT -5
I'm going to get blasted for this but the remake was far more enjoyable. Take the spooky music away and Dr. Loomis.... nut much left. Sorry John! Well, I still haven't seen Zombie's remake. But I was told there was a stripper in it. Therefore, it is a bullshit raping of the first movie, which is almost a 4-star masterpiece. It will always be one of the most influential, important, and greatest horror films made from the 70's to today. But remember- I don't think we need any remake at all. Period. So, now you know where I'm coming from. I'm sick of filmmakers not trying to come up with something original. The least they could do is try and they can't even be bothered with that. I'm also sick of this bullshit music video styled crud getting praised when it only takes a guy who's directed a few Limp Bizkit music videos- then a major studio gives 'im $10 million to make a horror movie. That's not what horror should be. And that's not really me blasting Rob Zombie (that guy just hasn't been able to connect the movies he makes with his great love of horror). That's more for the Saw and House of Wax type-movie directors than anyone else. Because today's direct to DVD horror movies are exactly the same as the stuff getting theatrical distribution. We lack visionaries and interesting people - both of whom always gave us better horror films.
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Post by Evil Dave on Nov 28, 2007 1:47:25 GMT -5
^^^Once again, you're trashing a movie you haven't even seen yet. That makes three times you've resorted to this. If you want to play "movie critic" I suggest you start watching them before you put on your Leonard Maltin jacket and tie...............
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Post by lazario on Nov 28, 2007 1:52:09 GMT -5
Dave - as usual, you are King Dipshit: ignore everything I say, dismiss it all with one sentence.
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Post by tsmooth31 on Nov 28, 2007 2:22:44 GMT -5
how can you rip on so many movies you havent even seen??
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Post by lazario on Nov 28, 2007 2:23:50 GMT -5
You don't know how many of those movies I haven't seen. You really don't. So, you can't make the point you're trying to make.
How can you say you've seen so much, and yet know so very little?
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Post by tsmooth31 on Nov 28, 2007 2:26:10 GMT -5
you cant comment on a single movie if you havent seen it
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