October HorrorDays 2014

[piranesi]

For your Halloween background music needs:

 

A list w/youtube playlist of the "100 best horror soundtracks"

 

Some great stuff I didn't know or wouldn't have thought of along with the standards.  But not so much obscure as to be obscure on purpose.  Still, no HALLOWEEN (except in it's HALLOWEEN III form):

 

playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg5ScSqSDXssdb6I0GWjlFm7lkDxIUZ9K

 

full list in the spoilers.  Weird formatting because the original was a stupid slideshow so I cut/pasted from the Youtube playlist itself.

 

http://www.factmag.com/2014/10/28/the-100-greatest-horror-soundtracks/

 

100 Claudio Gizzi - Flesh For Frankenstein Main
99 Surf Nazis Must Die - Main Theme
98 Jerry Goldsmith - POLTERGEIST (1982) - Soundtrack
97 Trick 'r Treat Soundtrack #1 Main Theme Creapy Things [Full-
96 Shock Waves Suite By Richard
95 Witchfinder General OST Prelude and
94 ZOMBI 3 (Main Title) Music by Stefano
93 The Evil Dead OST (1981) - 01 Introduction - Joseph
92 Lalo Schifrin - The Amityville Horror - Soundtrack Music
91 Danny Elfman - Nightbreed Main
90 Main Theme - Fabio Frizzi - Zombi 2
89 you're next
88 the wicker man ost-corn
87 Nico Fidenco - Zombie Holocaust aka Dr. Butcher
86 The Conjuring [soundtrack] - 01 - The
85 Chu Ishikawa (Tetsuo II: Body Hammer)
84Tindersticks - Trouble Every
83 Gino Marinuzzi Jr. - Terrore nello spazio - Part 1 - Best Soundtracks
82 Burial Ground -
81 C.H.U.D.
80 FRANCO MICALIZZI (The Visitor/Stridulum) STRIDULUM
79 ROB (Maniac soundtrack) - Haunted
78 John Carpenter's Prince Of Darkness - Opening
77 Pan's Labyrinth Lullaby by Javier
76 Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
75 Kiss Of The Damned Love Theme - Steven
74 Upstream Color [
73 Hardware - It's Horrible I Love It What Is
72 David Hess - Water Music - Sadie and Krug from The Last House on the
71"Let's Scare Jessic to Death" 1971 (full soundtrack as composed by Orville
70 THE BURNING (1981) ~ Rick Wakeman music (Track
69 Philip Glass - Candyman - Music
68 The Deadly Spawn (1983) Soundtrack
67 Francesco De Masi : Waiting for the
66 The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) - Music by Marc
65 Alessandro Blonksteiner - Apocalypse Domani - 1980 Soundtrack
64 Forbidden World (1982)
63 Cannibal Ferox (Soundtrack-
62 Re-Animator
61 The House of the Devil. Música: Jeff
60 JOHN SCOTT - Inseminoid - Main
59 Keith Emerson - Taxi ride (
58 A Nightmare on elm Street (1984) Soundtrack: Prologue/ Main
57 Coil - Main Title (Unreleased Hellraiser
56 Waldo De los Ríos: ¿Quién puede matar a un niño?/La
55 The Boogey Man (1980) Opening
54 Carlo Maria Cordio - Rosso Sangue (
53 Les Baxter - Black
52 "I remember" by Walter Rizzati (Theme from The house by the
51 Jay Chattaway - Maniac (Subway
50 Acanthus - The Shiver of the Vampires (Title
49 Next Of Kin (1982) - Music by Klaus
48 Broadcast - The Equestrian Vortex (taken from Berberian Sound
47 Dawn Of The Dead (1978) aka Zombi - Music by Goblin - Track Title "L'alba dei morti
46 Cannibal Holocaust Soundtrack 08 - Savage
45 Bambole (dal film Spasmo) ENNIO MORRICONE dir. Bruno
44 Street Trash (1987) - Official
43 Sam Waymon - Blood of the Thing (part1) from Ganja & Hess (
42 Day of the Dead (1985) Soundtrack - Breakdown (Track 2 by John
41 Fabio Frizzi - Voci Dal
40 Jonathan Newton - Excerpt From The OST to
39 Tentacles(1977) - Too Risky A Day For A
38 "Tourist Trap" soundtrack track 2 "the back
37 Giuliano Sorgini - Manchester M2
36 The Fog Main
35 'The Legend of Hell House' soundtrack - Delia Derbyshire & Brian
34 Don Peake - M1-
33 Vampyros Lesbos - The Lions and the Cucumber / We Don't
32 Profondo Rosso- Death
31 Chuck Cirino - Chopping Mall OST - Track
30 "Main Theme" for Possession (1981) Music by Andrzej Korzynski [
29 John Harrison - Welcome To
28 NICOLAI/ DELL'ORSO -"All the Colors of the Dark" (
27 Donald Rubinstein - The Calling (Main Theme "Martin") (
26 François De Roubaix - Les Dunes
25 The Entity Soundtrack - Charles Bernstein - Helium
24   Krzysztof Komeda - Lullaby - (Rosemary's Baby -
23 Session 9 OST - 11 - Disappointed
22 Alien Jerry Goldsmith
21 Richard Band scores "
20 Lonely Void | Under the Skin | Mica Levi (
19 Harry Bromley Davenport - XTRO Main Title/
18 Basil Kirchin - Dr. Phibes' Waltz (Cage Full Of
17 Friday the 13th (1980) Main
16 Wolf Creek - The Wires Part
15 Shock (1977) - Main
14 Slumber Party Massacre 1982 Ralph
13 Bernard Herrmann - Psycho (
12 Tangerine Dream - The Keep Ultimate Edition - Stealing The Silver
11 Phantasm 'Main Theme' by Fred Myrow and Malcolm
10 Tōru Takemitsu - KWAIDAN Suite, Part
9 Alessandro Alessandroni - The Devil's
8    Eraserhead - Original
7 Colin Towns Full Circle (Julias Haunting) 4/8
6 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - soundtrack
5 Soundtrack ~ Howard Shore ~ Videodrome (1983) ~ 01 ~ Welcome To
4 John Carpenter & Alan Howarth - Chariots of Pumpkins [Halloween III, Original
3 Fabio Frizzi - City of the Living Dead - Apoteosi Del
2 Popol Vuh - Mantra
1 Suspiria - Suspiria, Goblin
   

[jaedmc]

So if you guys are rooting around on Netflix Instant, give The Taking of Deborah Logan a whirl. 

 

It's a found footage doc with some neat ideas. First of all it's about some people doing a documentary about Alzheimer's, except the woman they're staying with has a bad case of POSSESSION. It has the same problems found footage has, and also can get a little muddled at times, but there's some really cool visuals in this including one bit in the Final Confrontation that ROCKED MY FUCKING SOCKS.

 

So even though it's not a particularly great flick or anything I'd say it's totally worth sitting through just for some of the really cool visuals they throw in.

[Reed]

I have mixed feelings on the found footage genre. When done correctly, it can be brilliant (The Blair Witch Project, The Last Exorcism) and its format gives low budget filmmakers an opportunity they might not otherwise have. But so many films of that genre are awful.

 

It may have peaked with Blair Witch.

[jaedmc]

Nothing beats Blair Witch. Noroi is maybe a better movie, but Blair Witch was one of the most brilliantly marketed films of all time. I remember waiting to see it and me and my brother were chilling at his place watching that documentary on the Blair Witch on A&E. Like it was an actual story that I hadn't heard of. And I kept thinking, "Wait, I thought this wasn't real." It was all just so well done that the lines were blurred enough to make it something truly special. I don't think anything can capture what Blair Witch did that year. With the internet, you and your actors would have to long con that shit like Christian Bale in the Prestige.

[Brian Fowler]

That fake documentary they made for Blair Witch might honestly be better than the movie.  The best bit of marketing ever.

 

 

Thing about found footage is that, like most things in film (and ALL things in horror films) it was successful so now it has been beaten into the ground over and over and over again.  But I think it's inherently limiting (and the always present "WHY THE FUCK DON'T YOU DROP THE CAMERA YOU FUCKHOLE?" problem) for most stories (although, to be fair, I think the first Paranormal Activity did a really great job of using the limitations to tell the story, instead of letting them get in the way.)

[Reed]

Blair Witch and Ringu, both released in 1999, are honestly the most atmospheric horror films ever made. Nothing has come close to building up that same sense of dread and doom since then.

 

I think that's the problem with a lot of found footage movies right now. They don't understand that they have to build up the tension.

[Brian Fowler]

I'm just going to go ahead and assume you never saw The Descent then...

[Reed]

That fake documentary they made for Blair Witch might honestly be better than the movie.  The best bit of marketing ever.

 

 

Thing about found footage is that, like most things in film (and ALL things in horror films) it was successful so now it has been beaten into the ground over and over and over again.  But I think it's inherently limiting (and the always present "WHY THE FUCK DON'T YOU DROP THE CAMERA YOU FUCKHOLE?" problem) for most stories (although, to be fair, I think the first Paranormal Activity did a really great job of using the limitations to tell the story, instead of letting them get in the way.)

 

 

You know, I actually don't think the whole "why do you have the camera still on?" is that big a loop hole. Especially now  when everyone is recording everything on their phones.

 

If you legitimately thought you were going to die and the camera was maybe your last message to the world/your loved ones...wouldn't you keep it on? 

[jaedmc]

There's a good one from Spain I watched last year that I thought was one of the better ones I've seen.

 

Also The Sacrament, which is fucking rad. Ti West likes the long build until all hell breaks loose, which he did in House of the Devil(which is still fucking awesome.)

[Curt McGirt]

Oh yeah, The Sacrament did it up right. Extremely disturbing without going over the top too. I was freaked watching that at 7 in the morning even. 

 

Ghoulies is on AMC right now and we got some gratuitous Jack Nance going on here! Also Michael Des Barres, a young Mariska Hargitay, Satanic rituals, a cool tombstone with a pentagram on it, and a good Richard Band soundtrack. The effects are pretty good too even if the ghoulies themselves are kinda crummy. Maybe the best film Empire ever had their hands on aside from Re-Animator and From Beyond, obviously. Oh and Prison and Trancers and Dolls, so that makes it about sixth rung down. Man there are some ridiculous pompadours on people in this film too.

[J.T.]

I have mixed feelings on the found footage genre. When done correctly, it can be brilliant (The Blair Witch Project, The Last Exorcism) and its format gives low budget filmmakers an opportunity they might not otherwise have. But so many films of that genre are awful.

 

It may have peaked with Blair Witch.

 

It peaked with NOROI:  The Curse.

 

 

And [REC]

 

[J.T.]

 

That fake documentary they made for Blair Witch might honestly be better than the movie.  The best bit of marketing ever.

 

 

Thing about found footage is that, like most things in film (and ALL things in horror films) it was successful so now it has been beaten into the ground over and over and over again.  But I think it's inherently limiting (and the always present "WHY THE FUCK DON'T YOU DROP THE CAMERA YOU FUCKHOLE?" problem) for most stories (although, to be fair, I think the first Paranormal Activity did a really great job of using the limitations to tell the story, instead of letting them get in the way.)

 

 

You know, I actually don't think the whole "why do you have the camera still on?" is that big a loop hole. Especially now  when everyone is recording everything on their phones.

 

If you legitimately thought you were going to die and the camera was maybe your last message to the world/your loved ones...wouldn't you keep it on? 

 

If I legitimately thought I was going to die, I would get out of the fucking haunted witch house with walls covered with the handprints of missing children.  I would most certainly not fall for the most tried and true horror tropes ever and go investigate the basement of the haunted witch house.  Blair Witch is riddled with cliche after cliche.

 

Good horror mockumentaries trick you into thinking you are an incidental viewer and the terrible events are there for the character to suffer through.  The entire payoff of Blair Witch is soaked in images that are there to freak out the audience, not Heather or her poor partners.

 

Blair Witch would be the worst of the found footage movies if it weren't for The Last Broadacast or the useless Blair Witch Sequel..

 

NOROI, The Sacrement, [REC], Grave Encounters, and (watched it last night) Afflicted are far smarter than Blair Witch and far more frightening.

[jaedmc]

Attrocious was tye Spanish one I was thinking of. I quite liked it. It's filmed by a teenager and they get around the "Drop the Camera" obstacle by him having to find someone via the nightvision. Definitely check out. Lots of cool moments.

And I enjoyed The Last Exorcism too. Particularly the ending.

[J.T.]

Attrocious was tye Spanish one I was thinking of. I quite liked it. It's filmed by a teenager and they get around the "Drop the Camera" obstacle by him having to find someone via the nightvision.

 

[REC] 2 got past the Drop The Camera hurdle because all of the footage was provided by the Reinforced Go-Pros on the helmets of the SWAT team.  Very clever.

 

Cloverfield just had the guy use a small handheld so he wasn't lugging around an eight pound camera with a lighting rig like Heather did in Blair Witch..  Smart until you start thinking about what the battery life should be on those little things. 

 

You could've believed it if they at least had a scene in the triage unit where the camera catches the unfortunate events of Marlena's death by accident while Hud is recharging the power supply.

[nate]

"Last Broadcast."

 

Just wanted to drop a movie title.

[Reed]

Noroi looks pretty good. I've never even heard of it before, is it quite famous?

 

And when are we being treated to the inevitable American remake?

[J.T.]

Noroi looks pretty good. I've never even heard of it before, is it quite famous?

 

It has gained a very solid cult following over the years.  Koji Shiraishi's quality is pretty inconstant, but Noroi is almost note perfect.

 

If you can get past the obvious Japanese cultural references, you should love this movie.

[jaedmc]

Noroi isn't just a great found footage flick it's a great horror film. Highly enjoyable, and like JT mentioned, it's better if you're familiar with Japanese Horror and the slight cultural differences between how monsters/ghosts work in Japan. I don't think it necessarily makes it more frightening - but you start to recognize what elements are important or emphasized and why.

[Reed]

I don't think the cultural differences between US/Japanese horror is as complicated or hard to get as people have made out.

 

Basically:

 

Americans who encounter a ghost: "Holy shit, it's a ghost? They exist? What the hell are we doing to do? Hey, maybe we should help it finish its unfinished business and then it'll pass on!"

 

Japanese people who encounter a ghost: "A ghost? Meh. I'm not surprised they exist. Whatever. Kind worried that it's going to kill me though."

[piranesi]

I thought it was more like in Japan, ghosts are not the "consciousness" of dead people, but are a natural force.  They may look like people, but that doesn't mean that they are.  So you can't talk to them, or give them something to appease them, or fix some problem they left behind.  They just exist and do what they do, and those that exist to harm or kill, do that for no more of a reason, and with no more of a chance to stop them than a flood or a virus has a reason for hurting someone.

 

In America, ghosts are part of "afterlife" and so represent some residue of the consciousness (and maybe the totality of that consciousness) of a formerly living person.  So you can help them, talk to them, understand them at least.

[HumanChessgame]

There are a lot of different classifications of spirits (yūrei) in Japanese folklore and shinto tradition.  Rather than a one size fits all disembodied spirit, they're in different categories based on how they died, why they remain, and the circumstances for why they're doing what they're doing and if they're harmful or not.  The cultural differences come out a lot in the movies in how you see people react to them.

 

I need to re-watch "The House Where Evil Dwells" sometime.  It features Americans living in Japan and dealing with those sorts of spirits.

 

For the most part I'm not big on found footage movies, but "The Tunnel" was halfway decent.  They did a good job of keeping the creatures off-screen and just giving suggestions of what was out there.  The logic of carrying the camera comes in as it being the only source of light/night vision and the creatures being pained by bright lights.  "Devil's Pass", which is touted as being a documentary on the Dyatlov Pass Incident also keeps the cameras going for a light source.  It's also not bad though I thought they kind of went off the rails towards the end as far as the creature's abilities.

[cwoy2j]

I have the Leprechaun blu-ray box set waiting for me at home. 1-6. Cue the Bart Scott, "can't wait" gif.

[Curt McGirt]

I always thought Halloween 4 was good but I just got a real kick out of the preacher, who I forgot all about. "You're huntin' it, ain'tcha?" "I seen it back there in the dust, clear as breasts and blue suede shoes." Drinkin his bottle of Dickel in his old truck hahaha. Then he starts singing and you get the only smile out of Loomis in ANY of the Halloween movies. 

 

III really made no sense at all but I still enjoy it for being as relentlessly goofy as it is while still remaining sinister and fairly gross with the mask demises. It sucks that they messed with Nigel Kneale's script because I'm sure the revisions removed any subtlety and/or logic the film had. Also sucks that Stacey Nelkin didn't work out in Hollywood because she was solid, gorgeous, and had some good opportunities like a part in Blade Runner that got cut. She also had the misfortune of dating Woody Alley when she was 17... which of course resulted in him both denying she was underage and then making a movie about their relationship (Manhattan). Go figure. 

[piranesi]

I always thought Halloween 4 was good but I just got a real kick out of the preacher, who I forgot all about. "You're huntin' it, ain'tcha?" "I seen it back there in the dust, clear as breasts and blue suede shoes." Drinkin his bottle of Dickel in his old truck hahaha. Then he starts singing and you get the only smile out of Loomis in ANY of the Halloween movies. 

 

 

 

My favorite part of 4 is the explanation the douche 80s dude/boyfriend gives when Rachel catches him red-handed in another girls house half naked.  He runs out and grabs her and it basically goes like

 

""Look, it's not what you think!...There's totally an explanation..."

 

"I thought you were different then other guys."

 

"Oh, I am.   I'm totally am different.  It's just that you skipped our date so I had to fuck this other girl for awhile, you know?......so we're fine, right?"

 

He is also introduced to us peeking over a pair of sunglasses, which is the most 80s thing that can happen.

[Curt McGirt]

I missed that but I caught the back-and-forth and response main girl had to Tits McGee -- "Have some coffee" haha. And fittingly, her death is being impaled by a phallic object. As they said in Casino, "Cheater's Justice!"