I'm 29. I've been rabid about horror films since I was a kid. And for what it's worth, I feel (almost) the same about Scream. It was a wonderful, brilliantly written film that was unfortunately aped by every subsequent film for the better part of a decade afterwards. There's the difference though. I think you're wrong about it still being a prevalent influence. Hollywood has ceased pumping out Scream clones every year. That phase (the self-aware, tongue-in-cheek, constantly referential subgenre) went into hibernation years ago, as the 70's-chic, so-called torture porn, survival horror, Asian remakes and yes, the cgi craze genres overtook it. It's been quite a while since I saw a black character turn to the white characters and suggest he beat feet because 'the black guy always dies first in this situation,' or a buxom blonde say something like, 'time for the money shot' as she removes her top for the sex scene.
As for Annabelle, (which, along with The Conjuring and Insidious, falls squarely in the 70's chic renaissance we're currently experiencing) I disliked it. I will happily admit that it had a handful of wonderful scares (the girl-to-woman door transformation being a true stand-out, to the point where I'm worried it will be repeated in various forms ad nauseam for years to come), the lack of cgi is always a plus, and the cast was attractive and adequate in their roles. But ultimately Annabelle failed to place anything of interest in between those scares, few as there were. It was dull and tepid and, while not as sleep-inducing as, say, Under the Skin, it was also far, far less adventuresome or creative.
And the doll has zero menace once you realize it isn't going to actually do anything. It's just going to sit there. It's an evil doll movie that has absolutely zero fun with the fact that it's an evil doll movie. It isn't particularly kind or mean-spirited, it isn't funny, it's spirituality is meek and limp-wristed, despite it's constant presence (church scenes and priests do not a religious horror film make without some kind of emotional tie or message) and it has absolutely nothing to say about anything. A crazy woman dies, her blood gets on the doll, a pretty white chick has a bad acid trip in an elevator, a priest flies down some stairs doing an impression of Father Karras and a black woman leaps from a window. That's all folks, hope you enjoyed the show. It just kind of floats by, largely forgettable.
You can give modern horror films like Frontiers, Martyrs and the Evil Dead remake all the crap you want for being wildly gory, offensive, cruel and ridiculously violent, but they're often also fun and vibrant, delightfully imaginative and filled with passion for the genre. Annabelle, between some ingeniously crafted scares, barely even registered a pulse, much less a personality of its own.
reply
share
asiamatron
10 years ago
^ Well said and that's a great review of the film.
I also agree that the old school style haunted house movie has gone through a renaissance. Supernatural movies are all the rage again and the self-aware slashers are actually a rarity these days.
reply
share
themaninthealley
10 years ago
Have you seen Argento's Opera? I've been forcing people to sit down and watch that movie for years, along with The Hitcher and In the Mouth of Madness. I've had far less success with Opera than the other two (granted, they're both very easy to love while Dario has an abrasive way with his female characters and couldn't write a logical script to save his life) but you listed Suspiria as a film worth watching, and rightly so, so I'm guessing that you dig Argento for what he was capable of.
Also, as someone who has seen the originals, do you have any theories on why the hell Hollywood can't properly remake an Asian horror film? Ringu, Ju-On, The Pang Bros. Eye Trilogy, A Tale of Two Sisters and One Missed Call, these are EDIT: poop-your-pants movies (there; are you happy, IMDB? *beep*) from the start; what gets lost in translation? It irritates me to no end when people list the ending of The Ring as their number one scariest moment when it is sacrilege compared to the original! Some CGI ghost child 'special effect warping' out of a television with bombastic music and Gore Verbinski whipping the camera around in a full 360 like the crew is being chased by rabid dogs that broke onto the set looking for snausages is nothing, nothing compared to the original. What did Nakata do to outperform in every level? The bitch actually crawled out of the tv! That's it! Minimal camera work, low-key music (by comparison), one single special effect. That's it; and it's one of the scariest moments in movies for me, and it's on like, zero lists. Nobody mentions it. Sorry, I'll step down from the soapbox now. Also sorry for being completely off-topic. That just confounds me.
Annabelle needed a ticking clock. Syd Field was a fuddy duddy when it came to horror, but the man was unparallelled in knowing and teaching what makes a great script. The Conjuring had the possession, Insidious I had the son lost in limbo while Insidious II had his father in the same predicament and those films were fantastic in large part. I think Annabelle lost its potential for stomach-churning dread because other than 'something bad might happen to Mia and her baby', the stakes were never really made clear and until the last ten minutes we had no idea what needed to be done to stop the curse. It just kind of abruptly fell to an ending.
reply
share
asiamatron
10 years ago
You have good taste mate and I am a huge fan of Argento's early films. I have seen Opera a few times and I think it is one of his last good movies. It contains a lot of the Argento trademarks that made his early movies so good. The ending lets the film down unfortunately but it doesn't ruin it. As you say, that is a common flaw with Argento's films as the scripts don't always make sense. That flaw actually benefits films like Suspiria and Inferno though with their dreamlike logic and atmosphere.
After Opera the quality of his films went downhill which is a shame: Argento stopped exploring some of the interesting themes that were used in his earlier films (the unreliable witness/visual impairment, dream logic, what it's like to be a foreigner living abroad, how the trauma of witnessing a violent incident can ruin a person etc.) Those themes were all well explored in Suspiria, Inferno, Profondo Rosso, Tenebre, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage etc. Argento also stopped using the interesting cinematography, Goblin music and dramatic camera work in his later films too. When I watched some of Argento's more recent films it was hard to tell they were directed by the same guy who directed Suspiria.
Another Argento theme I liked was how fate can intervene and mess up the best laid plans. This is explored a bit in Tenebre where even the killer is taken by surprise when fate turns the tables. The way he uses the city's architecture in that film is also great.
I love the Hitcher and In the Mouth of Madness too; I first saw the former back when I was a kid and the latter is great for fans of Lovecraft. Sam Neill gives a great performance too: "I want to speak to your supervisor!"
As for the Asian horrors, I first saw movies like Ringu and Ju-On back when they first came out in the UK. The original version of the Eye really freaked me out as I watched that at the cinema. I also saw Ju-On at the cinema too which was cool. The low key minimalism is one of the things that makes the original movies so effective. Ringu has quite a low key, low budget look and a slow build of atmosphere. When Sadako comes through the telly the practical effects used make it more realistic.
Big Hollywood studios don't take horror movies seriously so instead of focusing on things that add depth such as character development, good writing, interesting themes and atmosphere they pile on CGI special effects and jump scares. I think in countries like Japan they have more respect for their traditions and folklore particularly when it comes to the supernatural. That's why directors like Takashi Shimizu took things more seriously when he directed Ju-On. Nakata also seems to have taken a lot of inspiration from Koji Suzuki's book and combined with the low key tone it worked well. Those directors don't rely on CGI effects and jump scares to do the heavy lifting, they prefer to use more traditional aspects to draw in the audience like good writing, atmosphere etc. It's funny to consider that Hollywood movies used to be more like that back in the days, the age of the blockbuster changed all that.
I agree about Annabelle: it had cardboard characters and a wafer thin plot which was surprisingly untidy; you'd expect a shallow plot to be simple and clearly defined. The stakes were not very clear throughout most of the movie which was a problem. It also lacked one really good concept to form the backbone of the plot like Insidious or The Conjuring did. The ending was really half baked too and Evelyn's sacrifice had no impact.
reply
share
EveryDayHate
10 years ago
It was rly interesting reading your conversation about early Horror. I consider myself to be quite a Filmgeek myself, especially Horror, but I hadnt watched that many of the early ones, so I rly have to check out the movies you mentioned.
When I read your thoughts about Japanese or Asian Horrorfilm I wanted to throw "Dark Water" into the mix. The original is one of my all-time favorite atmospheric, slow-paced horrorfilms with the remake just being the exact opposite.
Recently I rly loved "The Babadook" - great characters (even the kid), good developement and focus, creepy premise, fitting soundtrack and even the ending was quite enjoyable and added more depth to the movie. Regarding Annabelle I feel the same way you do - an easily forgettable movie with boring characters, thin plot, no real atmosphere and some promising scenes. (transformation, elevator scene) The demon was a letdown. I had the same problem in "Insidious", but the movie itself was way better than this one.
The last jump-scare horrofilm I loved was "Coming Soon" (Program na winyan akat) from Thailand - rly effective jump-scares with some great and creepy looking gal.
Just my 2 cents
PS: I'm 24 yo
reply
share
asiamatron
10 years ago
Thanks man and it is always nice to talk to other film geeks like myself :-)
Dark Water is a classic and I forgot to mention it. I also loved the Babadook which is one of the best horror/thriller movies I've seen in years. The film deals with some really interesting themes and ideas such as alienation, isolation, psychosis and fear of children.
I also saw Coming Soon a while ago and I enjoyed that movie too.
I agree about Annabelle as it had potential but failed to live up to it. Insidious was a much more effective movie despite it also having a disappointing demon.
reply
share