Mentally Traumatizing Movies

[dutchdisease]

Post any movies that you feel have mentally traumatized you or are in general traumatizing.

My Contribution:
Requiem For A Dream

 

[onesteptwostep]

Oldboy.

Confessions.

The Chaser <- one of the few films that instilled disgust and fear in me, and I'm usually emotionally mute to visual media.

 

[Sinny91]

It. Don't like clowns.

Jeepers Creepers. Don't like Scarecrows.

The Lion King. Don't like the fact Mufasa was killed.

 

[QuickTwist]

It. Don't like clowns.

Jeepers Creepers. Don't like Scarecrows.

The Lion King. Don't like the fact Mufasa was killed.

Mufasa should have died at the end of the movie. Then it would have been a classic.

 

[Sinny91]

Mufasa should have died at the end of the movie. Then it would have been a classic.

How so? I think the Lion King was one of the first Disney movie to tackle the concept of death in the context of loosing a parent and having the corpse on screen .. Doesn't that make it classical in it's own right?

Oh and Final Destination I suppose... Life will never be the same again when boarding a roller coaster or a plane or what have you... We've even had some local roller coasters crash and fail on us a few times over the years too... References to the movie's are common place, and unsettle some of us.

The most traumatising 'movies' I have watched, are one's based on reality.
9/11 for example.

 

[kora]

I am traumatized from knowing that the human centipede was made. Have not seen it though.

Otherwise...I used to just watch any random horror movie I could find with mates when we were 12 after our parents went to bed, can't remember any of the names. Classics like the shining didn't really traumatize or psycho by hitchcock don't really traumatize even if they scare you. I think anything that traumatizes the viewer is just a bunch of bullshit really. It's like, "how horrible can we be?" no subtlety so it's just mindless and gross.

Although, real life documentaries about the belgian congo did the trick. Maybe some movies about the holocaust, fiction or not.

edit ah fuck i tried to watch blairwitch project by myself when i was younger. Couldn't do it. It's not really sommething you do that is it? You don't really go "I'll just settle down and watch a nice horror movie now I'm alone.", you've gotta be with friends to laugh at the fact you are scared or something.

 

[Helvete]

A Hole in My Heart.

I have a description in my old thread that never went anywhere aha :P

http://www.intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=19761

 

[QuickTwist]

How so?

The story plays out like this:

Simba and nala (whatever her name is) have there thing at they beginning. The go to the graveyard and then Scar, not mufasa, pretends like he is saving them from the hyenas. This gives scar instant street cred to Simba. Then simba thinks Scar likes to hang out in the elephant graveyard. So Simba goes back, cuz he's curious. Scar isn't there and the hyenas are smart and chase him away instead of killing him. Meets timon and pumba yada yada, boring, he grows up. In the mean time, there is epic drama between Scar and mufasa and there is a battle over who is going to be dominant. Scar sides with the hyenas to greatly outnumber mufasa and his people and the great battle that happens is exactly when Simba comes back to pride rock. The hyenas are expendable to scar so he places a bounty on mufasa's head so they gang up on him and kill him. but before that nala goes out looking for food and finds simba with timon and pumba and she teaches him to fight, because he's a pussy who can get beat up by a girl. Simba gets better at fighting than nala because testosterone and shit (IDK could add a line in the beginning where simba and mufasa have a bonding experience and mufasa says he will teach simba to fight one day, blah, blah). When they are messing around a conversation comes up and nala tells simba about the feud between scar and mufasa. Mufasa says "we have to go now." Simba arrives just in time to see his father killed by the hyenas. This enrages him. So he starts kicking ass on the hyenas and him and nala kill the remaining hyenas. Plot twist, nala is scars daughter and simba's' mom's dying word are "stop scar". Scar and simba have an epic fight and simba wins (yay) nala feels utterly demoralized and leaves pride rock forever. The end.

OK, so its not a masterpiece but I like my version better, so there.

 

[Puffy]

I'm emotionally jaded when it comes to films and am unsure if I can think of many that have had a lasting effect on me, good or bad. I don't find the films people generally list very disturbing.

The Act of Seeing with One's Own Eyes by Stan Brakhage is disturbing in terms of how it sits you face-to-face with your own biology and mortality (it's a short art-film focused on a live autopsy.)

Cannibal Holocaust disturbed me enough that I made myself watch it again the next day. The film undermines any message it could have because of the actual abuses that occurred to make it, but it did make me question the extent people go to derive pleasure from suffering on screen. I guess that films an exception as it ceases to be a representation and becomes snuff without warning you, but to see the thing itself in the context of entertainment in turn makes you feel self-disgust at the many other times you've enjoyed the representation in the context of entertainment as well. I stopped watching a lot of violent films after that one as it was a bit of an epiphany for me, so I guess it did effect me.

 

[TheScornedReflex]

The fast and the furious series. Come on guys. 7 of the fucking films? How many more times can you regurgitate the same old bullshit? In fact, don't answer. Just kill yourselves.

Riddick on the other hand (lol)

 

[Jennywocky]

Cannibal Holocaust disturbed me enough that I made myself watch it again the next day. The film undermines any message it could have because of the actual abuses that occurred to make it, but it did make me question the extent people go to derive pleasure from suffering on screen. I guess that films an exception as it ceases to be a representation and becomes snuff without warning you, but to see the thing itself in the context of entertainment in turn makes you feel self-disgust at the many other times you've enjoyed the representation in the context of entertainment as well. I stopped watching a lot of violent films after that one as it was a bit of an epiphany for me, so I guess it did effect me.

I was wondering if it was worth seeing, just to be able to comment on it. I did see Roth's "Green Inferno," which is his spin on the same topic.

Honestly, pretty much any Eli Roth movie is uselessly traumatizing; i remember Cabin Fever being the same, and Hostel, and whatever else.

I've seen some pretty intense/painful movies. Some I seem to learn something from, about human nature or life; the ones I don't are the ones that really turn me off since they just seem exploitative.

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

Traumatizing out of extreme disgust...don't watch any of these they're terrible:
salo, a serbian film(that's the title of the film) and irreversible

Traumatizing because they're intense/painful:

Come and see
Landscape in the mist
The trojan women(the scene with andromache and her son killed me)
The sting of death
Most ingmar bergman films
Bicycle thieves
Au hasard balthazar
Sophie's choice
The life of oharu
Diamonds of the night
When the tenth month comes

I love watching films that make me suffer/destroy me+make me feel a knot in my stomach for weeks(I'm not talking about exploitative, disgusting films). im serious, i love to batter myself emotionally with more and more harrowing films. idk am i crazy

 

[QuickTwist]

Xl Dat Fe do.

 

[Intolerable]

Easy. The Exorcist when I was a little boy. When you are 10-11 that movie will impress.

I am traumatized from knowing that the human centipede was made. Have not seen it though.

Otherwise...I used to just watch any random horror movie I could find with mates when we were 12 after our parents went to bed, can't remember any of the names. Classics like the shining didn't really traumatize or psycho by hitchcock don't really traumatize even if they scare you. I think anything that traumatizes the viewer is just a bunch of bullshit really. It's like, "how horrible can we be?" no subtlety so it's just mindless and gross.

Although, real life documentaries about the belgian congo did the trick. Maybe some movies about the holocaust, fiction or not.

edit ah fuck i tried to watch blairwitch project by myself when i was younger. Couldn't do it. It's not really sommething you do that is it? You don't really go "I'll just settle down and watch a nice horror movie now I'm alone.", you've gotta be with friends to laugh at the fact you are scared or something.

You've explained your own problem with being afraid. You don't allow yourself to be immersed in the story.

I only watch movies with emotional triggers like that alone because that's the only way to watch them.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

Film doesn't affect me negatively these days. When I was younger 7-9 y/o I saw the Fly and the Alien. I didn't see the whole "Fly" film (I managed to sneak a peek when the tv was on and nobody around), only the bit when the scientist teleported when a fly was in the other booth and he began changing into a monster with no way of turning back because the fly escaped. So that traumatised me, I was afraid people could turn into insects just like that and I was already dealing with a moderate entomophobia at the time so the motif of becoming a fly used to recur in nightmares for many months.

The other one mentioned was alien, I found a VHS cassette and watched it at 7 or 6 y/o on my own. Definitely far too young for me, I was afraid to enter dark places and I used to turn all lights on before entering a basement, or I turned around all the time expecting to see a freaking alien behind me, if I didn't turn around I just ran straight to the door. It lasted some 2-3 years before the fear of the dark had passed.

I love watching films that make me suffer/destroy me+make me feel a knot in my stomach for weeks(I'm not talking about exploitative, disgusting films). im serious, i love to batter myself emotionally with more and more harrowing films. idk am i crazy

Same here. Although I consider sadness and difficult emotions to be valuable and positive experiences when they are supplied by art. I actually prefer brooding works that leave lasting impressions, doubts or questions.

 

[Jennywocky]

Film doesn't affect me negatively these days. When I was younger 7-9 y/o I saw the Fly and the Alien. I didn't even see the whole "Fly" film (I managed to sneak a peek when the tv was on and nobody around), just the bit when the scientist teleported when a fly was in the other booth and he began changing into a monster with no way of turning back because the fly escaped. So that traumatised me, I was afraid people could turn into insects just like that and I was already dealing with a moderate entomophobia at the time so the motif of becoming a fly used to recur in nightmares for many months.

The other one mentioned was alien, I found a VHS cassette and watched it at 7 or 6 y/o on my own. Definitely far too young for me, I was afraid to enter dark places and I used to turn all lights on before entering a basement, or I turned around all the time expecting to see a freaking alien behind me, if I didn't turn around I just ran straight to the door. It lasted some 2-3 years before the fear of the dark had passed.

Alien was great. I was in middle school when it came out. I did not get to actually see it until later in my teen years on VHS, but I did buy the novelization from the school book club. (And yes, they were marketing adaptations to younger teens.) It was the only book my mom took from me -- I had it, then it disappeared and I later saw it in my parent's bedroom. The thing was, I remember being annoyed because I had already read it all by that point and found it stirred up my head from the tension and fear, which meant it was interesting to me as I tried to get my brain around it. I don't remember if the subplot with Dallas later excised from the theater cut was in the book, but essentially there's this thought that you are

Spoiler

being changed into something else against your will, becoming something you don't understand... or just being used with no power to stop what is happening to you while remaining aware of everything.

That's disturbing. I suppose that theme shows up a lot in horror, though. It was kind of what was unsettling about The Fly remake, but that's what created its draw as well.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Come and see
Landscape in the mist
The trojan women(the scene with andromache and her son killed me)
The sting of death
Most ingmar bergman films
Bicycle thieves
Au hasard balthazar
Sophie's choice
The life of oharu
Diamonds of the night
When the tenth month comes

I love watching films that make me suffer/destroy me+make me feel a knot in my stomach for weeks(I'm not talking about exploitative, disgusting films). im serious, i love to batter myself emotionally with more and more harrowing films. idk am i crazy

Sounds cool. Which one would you recommend foremost (excluding Bergman as i'm already familiar with his work)?

 

[Puffy]

Traumatizing out of extreme disgust...don't watch any of these they're terrible:
salo, a serbian film(that's the title of the film) and irreversible

salo is boring (frankly), serbian film is too ridiculous to take seriously, and irreversible does everything it can to aggravate you.

Traumatizing because they're intense/painful:

Come and see
Landscape in the mist
The trojan women(the scene with andromache and her son killed me)
The sting of death
Most ingmar bergman films
Bicycle thieves
Au hasard balthazar
Sophie's choice
The life of oharu
Diamonds of the night
When the tenth month comes

I love watching films that make me suffer/destroy me+make me feel a knot in my stomach for weeks(I'm not talking about exploitative, disgusting films). im serious, i love to batter myself emotionally with more and more harrowing films. idk am i crazy

I stopped watching films regularly a few years ago and have seen hardly any since then, but your lists usually make me reconsider.

 

[Ex-User (11125)]

most agitating film/book for me as a kid was the little mermaid(not the disney one)...i was around 6 i think, mom got me lots of picture books and VHS's and this was one of them, that was the first time a story made me feel such intense sadness

Sounds cool. Which one would you recommend foremost (excluding Bergman as i'm already familiar with his work)?

idk what you're looking to watch, but out of the stuff on the list i would say the sting of death(1990) is the most bergman-like so maybe you'll like it

 

[Sinny91]

The fast and the furious series. Come on guys. 7 of the fucking films? How many more times can you regurgitate the same old bullshit? In fact, don't answer. Just kill yourselves.

Riddick on the other hand (lol)

Seconded.

And LOL @Quicktwist.

@Higs, I loved the Blair Witch. But yes, friends are a must. We'd watch the Blair Witch and then go explore our local woods called 'Blue Bell Woods' ... There was lots of like freaky voodoo shit in those woods man. Never did solve the riddle.

 

[Jennywocky]

Seconded.

And LOL @Quicktwist.

@Higs, I loved the Blair Witch. But yes, friends are a must. We'd watch the Blair Witch and then go explore our local woods called 'Blue Bell Woods' ... There was lots of like freaky voodoo shit in those woods man. Never did solve the riddle.

Did I mention where I live now is really close to where the house scene at the end of Blair Witch was filmed? Like, a few miles car ride, and then hike down a back road and cut along a property line into a copse... Like 15 minutes from my apartment.

It's private property and I had wanted to sneak out some obscure time of day to check it out. Sadly, too many teens used to go there and party after the movie came out, so they tore the place down probably around 2010 or something.

The rest of the woods scenes were shot out in mid/western MD on state lands an hour or two to the west, and Burkittsville MD is about a 50 minute ride NW to Frederick and then west on 340.

 

[Ex-User (9086)]

being changed into something else against your will, becoming something you don't understand... That's disturbing. I suppose that theme shows up a lot in horror, though. It was kind of what was unsettling about The Fly remake, but that's what created its draw as well.

You're on to something. I think the freaky part about the alien was having 'it' grow inside and then break out. Some similar themes in ghost busters (possession) and all that fantasy 'geas' and charms all seemed uncanny at the time.

Not sure why, I read a lot more "serious" books and somehow I didn't have this issue with experiences rubbing off on me, even though I tend to become very engaged with the plot and characters, usually it's through more understandable channels like sadness, joy or inner morality of the world, but nothing I couldn't deal with. I guess reading allows for a safer separation of realities and digesting the events. I could go on melancholic for a week because some character died or the story ended but that was the extent of it. While my consciousness was fully 'inside' that book's world there was no 'me' in it, contrary to the film.

 

[Sinny91]

Did I mention where I live now is really close to where the house scene at the end of Blair Witch was filmed? Like, a few miles car ride, and then hike down a back road and cut along a property line into a copse... Like 15 minutes from my apartment.

It's private property and I had wanted to sneak out some obscure time of day to check it out. Sadly, too many teens used to go there and party after the movie came out, so they tore the place down probably around 2010 or something.

The rest of the woods scenes were shot out in mid/western MD on state lands an hour or two to the west, and Burkittsville MD is about a 50 minute ride NW to Frederick and then west on 340.

You didn't (afaik), but that's fooking awesome. Shame those stupid kids had to ruin it...

Those stupid kids would have been me and mine if we could have tho, aha.

 

[Cognisant]

Not a movie but an anime called "Shinsekai Yori" had me emotionally shaken for a few days.

I think "The Sphere" is the only horror movie that really scared me, "The Thing" grossed me out and Event Horizon got a few jump scares but ultimately I was more enamored with the concept than actually scared by it.

Terminator 2 and Ghost in the Shell were both highly influential.

 

[Seteleechete]

In general movies aren't really made to be traumatic because people don't really want to casually watch that(which is why I often find the horror tag in popular works mocking because gruesomeness and cheap scare tricks does not a horrific story make).

Actual horror in my eyes lies in instilling a sense of despair and hopelessness to the person watching/reading a work. Generally anime and good books are far more successful in this(at least for me). I think it has something to do with being detached from the movies(personally emphasizing in a work is key) I rarely feel very involved watching them.

Personally I find jingoku shouju(hell girl) very traumatizing to watch but I am sure there is individual variation in this regard.

 

[GodOfOrder]

Salo and The Antichrist . Both are really fucked up

 

[Tannhauser]

Mulholland Dr.

Not only because of how creepy it is, but also because of the traumatizingly shitty attempt at making an artsy movie by the wanna-be artsy Hollywood director David Lynch.

 

[Reluctantly]

Martyrs and human centipede

 

[nanook]

As a kid i was shocked to see when kids were allowed to die, like a beggar kid freezing to death in winter, in the middle of a town and another kid drifting out into the sea on a raft, by mistake. And that was the end of the story. Like wtf!

I can disidentify from movies now, so fiction can't traumatize me. Senseless fictional violence like Salo just makes me switch off and curse the director angrily. But some war movies have been the most impressive, because, due to family and national history (ww2), i allow myself to fully go into the experience, out of curiosity about what war was like. Like that scene in saving private ryan in the church tower, where the soldier is hiding, with a panic attack, enemies coming upstairs ... Or i just saw Anthropoid and this movie is also a pain in the ass, those torture scenes ... especially because you know how it will end and it makes it so much more frustrating. Not to spoil anything. But as they say: everyone has to die someday. Soon. In a cinema near you.

Then there are documentaries ...

 

[Rixus]

When I was 7, my mother was just getting ready for bed and left the room just at the point when Friday 13th Part 6 came on. Now, it's pretty crappy. But to mine eyes at such a young age, a guy getting out of his grave and ripping someone's heart out was pretty traumatic.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[Jennywocky]

Well, there are some I can't get out of my head:

- Human Centipede 1&2
- Martyrs (2008)
- A Serbian Film
- Irreversible
- Antichrist
- Under the Skin
- Tusk
- Wolf Creek

Some of those have artistic merit, which leaves me in an excruciating middle-ground... the ones that are just exploitative schlock are easier to dismiss.

I haven't seen Salo yet.

Requiem for a Dream is definitely intense but didn't eat at me as much.

There are others but I don't have a list in front of me.

EDIT: Funny Games. I haven't seen the remake (which is just the English version with English/American actors, but pretty much the same script and same director), the original is subtitled, and such a low budget but very very effective if you have the patience to watch the story unfold. Characters occasionally break the fourth wall, it's a slow-building home invasion at core and just brutal by the end mostly by the understatement and EMOTIONAL pain inflicted (although obviously there's physical as well). Just being reminded of it a year after I think I saw it the first time, my mind is getting caught up in it again.

 

[Rixus]

So does anyone have a suggestion for a truly scary movie? A proper get into your head, reluctant to go downstairs afterwards one, not just a gore fest.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[ummidk]

When I was a kid I was pretty freaked out by the curb stomp in America History X.

 

[Bad Itch]

"It" messed with me for several years when I was younger. I had read the book before I saw the movie. Made my paper route interesting for a while there, in the wee hours of the morning.

I saw "Event Horizon" in a mostly empty theater with a fever (mild delirium was key I think) and had to leave before the end and stayed (very) terrified all the way home and for almost 2 years following until I sat alone in the basement and watched it back to back five times one Saturday and got over it. Now it's therapeutic.

I am gifted with stupidly good imagination when it comes to hijacking myself that way.

 

[EditorOne]

My first wife and I went to see "Last House on the Left", the original version, back in the 1970s. We were both extremely upset. I haven't bothered with the new version (2009), but I seriously recommend against seeing the original.
It was Wes Craven's first movie as director, and it was apparently derived from an Ingmar Bergen movie.

 

[Jennywocky]

My first wife and I went to see "Last House on the Left", the original version, back in the 1970s. We were both extremely upset. I haven't bothered with the new version (2009), but I seriously recommend against seeing the original.
It was Wes Craven's first movie as director, and it was apparently derived from an Ingmar Bergen movie.

I saw that a few months back -- although I couldn't tell you "which" version I saw as apparently there were zillions of different cuts of the film that got released and passed around due to the notoriety of the film and various theaters and studios cutting scenes out. I'm thinking it wasn't the most explicit cut because while I'm aware of the major plot points with the two girls, not everything was shown on the screen.

I didn't really find much that was "artful" about it, it mostly just seemed exploitative and emotionally brutal (and outside of those scenes a rather boring film). There's the 10-15 last minutes of the film that is a bit unexpected, but otherwise it might be one of those films that at best, if one is curious, just read the wiki synopsis and move on.

The remake is supposed to be even less than the original.

I also saw the original "The Hills Have Eyes" (also by Craven) a month or two ago, and wasn't impressed either. Most of it was boring schlock and then of course there were a few scenes that just seemed like pointless brutality, which did not gel with the stupid silliness of much of the rest of the movie. Not really ever interested in watching more movies like that.

Craven's made some decent movies, but these?

I saw "Event Horizon" in a mostly empty theater with a fever (mild delirium was key I think) and had to leave before the end and stayed (very) terrified all the way home and for almost 2 years following until I sat alone in the basement and watched it back to back five times one Saturday and got over it. Now it's therapeutic.

I watched it once, and ended up being disappointed/poo-poo'ing the thing. I do have it on Bluray and am planning to give it another chance since it's been a few years, but I had trouble taking it seriously, and typically if a movie is going to scare or disturb me emotionally, I have to be invested to some degree. (Of course, I can just be grossed-out regardless, but that's not a worthwhile experience.)

"In the Mouth of Madness" (Carpenter, with Sam Neill starring again) isn't a GREAT movie, but it definitely gets down some of the surreal lovecraftian aspects -- I remember enjoying it more than Event Horizon.

So does anyone have a suggestion for a truly scary movie? A proper get into your head, reluctant to go downstairs afterwards one, not just a gore fest.

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Well, most of the ones I listed are not "gore fests," which I find boring too.
Are you more interested in jump scare movies of The Conjuring variety, then?

 

[Rixus]

Well, most of the ones I listed are not "gore fests," which I find boring too.
Are you more interested in jump scare movies of The Conjuring variety, then?

More freaky than jumpy.

I saw Lights Out in the cinema recently. Decently creepy because you never really saw her. Likewise, Sinister was pretty disturbing. I found the silent super 8 films to be nicely creepy. The Babadook was really good, up until the most WTF ending to a movie ever.

 

[Rixus]

I saw The Forest last night. Wasn't that bad, actually. As soon as you see "Japan" in any horror film, you know it's gonna be fairly freaky. Really made me think that if I was there, there would be involuntary bowel movements.

And I'm traumatised by knowing people actually watch The Human Centipede. And that there are 3. Now there's 3 films I have no desire whatsoever to see.

 

[Jennywocky]

I saw Lights Out in the cinema recently. Decently creepy because you never really saw her. Likewise, Sinister was pretty disturbing. I found the silent super 8 films to be nicely creepy. The Babadook was really good, up until the most WTF ending to a movie ever.

Haven't seen Lights Out yet, but yes -- SInister is one I was wondering about for you. The 8mm films were the highlight there, although there were a few jump scares as well. And Babadook.

I think "It Follows" was overhyped, but the relentless nature of what's following them is actually pretty edgy.

Cronenberg's "The Fly" has some decent effects and Goldblum is excellent.

"28 Days Later" is one of the better "rage zombie" movies out there, it can really get under your skin. Some sociological drama as well.

"Session 9" is really psychological in nature and claustrophobic. It kind of depends on how psychological / mind-gamey you like things. The simultaneous MPD/DID recorded tracks get kind of wiggy. For a low-budget/small cast pic, it was decent.

If you're into "tone/atmosphere," Angelheart has that in spades both visually and audially. It's nuts. And was one of the main great roles Mickey Rourke had before his career floundered for some years -- his gumshoe looks like he's been rolling in the gutter and going unshowered.

I don't remember much about Jacob's Ladder, just that it's another psychologically intense / surreal movie; probably in same category as The Machinist.

I saw The Forest last night. Wasn't that bad, actually. As soon as you see "Japan" in any horror film, you know it's gonna be fairly freaky. Really made me think that if I was there, there would be involuntary bowel movements.

The Forest didn't do much for me. Although I like Natalie Dormer as an actress. If there was anything good in that movie, it was her... but boy she didn't have much script to work with.

And I'm traumatised by knowing people actually watch The Human Centipede. And that there are 3. Now there's 3 films I have no desire whatsoever to see.

They were a trainwreck -- and HC2 was basically Tom Six (the director) giving middle fingers to whatever fan base he has. What I can't get is why anyone would be a fan of them.

 

[Rixus]

Session 9 sounds interesting. The more mind gamey and psychological the better.

And I thought the being stuck in a forest with ghosts was a good idea. I liked the little twist at the end with the basement - almost didn't see it coming. And it was quite saddening to see her telling the story while we could see she'd been lied to. Decent into paranoia was also nice. The difference between that and Sinister, though, was that you didn't feel there. Just that you would be scared if you were there. With Sinister you could picture yourself finding the videos and watching them all obsessively.

 

[Rixus]

Oh, I don't have Session 9 on any app. But I found the trailer and will keep an eye out for it. I'll give The Following a try tonight and see what the fuss is about.

 

[Jennywocky]

Oh, I don't have Session 9 on any app. But I found the trailer and will keep an eye out for it. I'll give The Following a try tonight and see what the fuss is about.

Oh, you mean It Follows -- haha, that is very different than "The Following". (That TV show was a guilty pleasure of mine -- lots of scenery chewing and generally illogical craziness, but boy was it fun.)

 

[GodOfOrder]

Well, there are some I can't get out of my head:

- Human Centipede 1&2
- Martyrs (2008)
- A Serbian Film
- Irreversible
- Antichrist
- Under the Skin
- Tusk
- Wolf Creek

Some of those have artistic merit, which leaves me in an excruciating middle-ground... the ones that are just exploitative schlock are easier to dismiss.

I haven't seen Salo yet.

You and I have either the same taste in movies or in friends. As for the ones that straddle the line between schlock and art, I have no clue where to place Tusk. The Serbian film on the other hand...it is a class unto its own.

Salo, if/when you get around to it, is remarkably and surprisingly intelligent; a metaphor for Italian fascism. But it's also borderline fetish porn, of every variety (so have a strong stomach).

 

[Rixus]

Yes, I meant It Follows. Which I have just watched. Wasn't too bad. I liked the uncaring, anonymous nature of It. Would have have liked to have had a better idea of what It was, aside from a metaphor for STDs, but what you don't know can be better I guess. The exhausted aspect is good, but there were a few obvious ways to get rid of it that involved traveling to the other side of the country before selecting someone, but a teenager might not have been willing and it's understandable; which is the point really. Could have been more psychological for my taste. And I would have figured it out sooner, so hard to imagine myself in that predicament.

 

[Rixus]

But, I don't know. I didn't wanna open the back door to have a cigarette before bed and I checked all the doors were locked, so it did it's job.

 

[Jennywocky]

You and I have either the same taste in movies or in friends. As for the ones that straddle the line between schlock and art, I have no clue where to place Tusk.

It was more that it simply had some disturbing elements, and forced transformation is a haunting concept. Although I think Michael Parks elevated the movie a bit from what was originally a Kevin Smith joke in an interview / commentary track (?)

The Serbian film on the other hand...it is a class unto its own.

Yeah. Sadly, the first 45 minutes was interesting from the perspective of a wash-up who had built his old career around activities of a dubious nature but who now wanted to provide for his family and reclaim some of his glory days....and now was in a moral pickle. He eventually makes a decision.

The last 45 minutes was then something of a very different cut.

Salo, if/when you get around to it, is remarkably and surprisingly intelligent; a metaphor for Italian fascism. But it's also borderline fetish porn, of every variety (so have a strong stomach).

I noticed Criterion did a version of it (unlike these other films), which indicated there was something of value there.

 

[Jennywocky]

Yes, I meant It Follows. Which I have just watched. Wasn't too bad. I liked the uncaring, anonymous nature of It. Would have have liked to have had a better idea of what It was, aside from a metaphor for STDs, but what you don't know can be better I guess.

I had a much broader view of it -- it's mortality, although the ability to pass it off to a sexual contact catches the flavor of STDs. You can't escape it, you don't know when it will find you, and when it catches up, you die and that's it. Sex is typically a rite of passage into adulthood (and for those who conceive, it's the part of the evolutionary cycle where you "no longer needed" since you passed on your genes).

So do you spend your life running and not living life, trying to keep yourself alive? Or do you stick around, build roots, and risk that each day could be your last.

I liked the claustrophobic mortality aspect. You just watch your mortality get closer and closer and closer and there's not anything you can really do about it. you can even just sit there and watch it for awhile, but eventually when it reaches you, that's the end.

 

[GodOfOrder]

I noticed Criterion did a version of [Salo] (unlike these other films), which indicated there was something of value there.

That is actually the version my friend loaned me. And I do love Criterion, although not every movie they publish is necessarily great. But I am thankful that they keep cult classics alive

 

[Bad Itch]

I watched it once, and ended up being disappointed/poo-poo'ing the thing. I do have it on Bluray and am planning to give it another chance since it's been a few years, but I had trouble taking it seriously, and typically if a movie is going to scare or disturb me emotionally, I have to be invested to some degree. (Of course, I can just be grossed-out regardless, but that's not a worthwhile experience.)

It won't be any better the second time around... the CG are a bit dated now and it's tough not to pick on them a little bit. Maybe give the commentary a go and then try re-watching it. It won't be any scarier but maybe the insight gained from the commentary might make it a modicum more interesting at least.

 

[Creeping Death]

When I was a kid I was pretty freaked out by the curb stomp in America History X.

What do you mean, that was the best part. Other than the shower raep.