Great Special Effects, huh?

[Werekitty]

Realistic enough to make even a "modern woman" leap to the light fixture.

[Archae45]

Realistic enough to make even a "modern woman" leap to the light fixture.

As a drive-in theater projectionist in the early 80's I saw my share of drek movies that ladeled the blood (and other stuff) around.

To me, the classics are "Alien" and "Halloween."
After them, it went downhill really fast.

[Sharuuk]

To me, the classics are "Alien" and "Halloween. "After them, it went downhill really fast.

Agreed!!!

The chest burster scene in 'Alien' was to me the all time best movie SFX. The fact that none of the other actors knew what was going to happen was just the icing on the cake.

The fire walk in 'Halloween ll' at the end was one of the best I'd seen. I know it was slowed down to make it look long, but I was impressed at the sheer volume of fire coming off "Michael" as he walked to his doom.

Beautiful....just beautiful.

Wasn't it 'Nightmare on Elm St ll' that Freddie turned a kid into a marionette using sliced strips of his own flesh from his arms and legs as "strings" to make him jump off the roof (or some other high place, I don't clearly remember.)? I thought the close-up shot of his feet with the strip cut away but still attached was gruesomly real.....VERY well done.



Shaaruuk

[Yuoofox]

I don't like watching horror movies. If I watch a movie with lots of violence in it, it's usually something with historical or personal significance, such as "The Passion of Christ," "Saving Private Ryan," or "Schindler's List."

[LoneWolf23k]

In Horror Movies, it's usually not the Gore that creates the fear, but the shock value of the terror coming when you least expect it.

[Archae45]

To me, the classics are "Alien" and "Halloween. "After them, it went downhill really fast.

Agreed!!!

The chest burster scene in 'Alien' was to me the all time best movie SFX. The fact that none of the other actors knew what was going to happen was just the icing on the cake.

Shaaruuk

Oh yes, one of the actresses got sprayed in the face during that scene, and knocked over.
You see her get sprayed, and she genuinely looked horrified.

[Sharuuk]

I don't like watching horror movies. If I watch a movie with lots of violence in it, it's usually something with historical or personal significance, such as "The Passion of Christ," "Saving Private Ryan," or "Schindler's List."

Since I made friends with a professional FX make-up artist some 20+ years ago and learned a bunch about how the FX are done, I (sadly) watch movies nowadays just to 'critique' the gore FX.

I've known Tom Savini (aka "The Godfather of Gore") for some 15 years. He's called that because of the incredible realism of his FX. And while I do love good horror FX make-up and a certain level of violence, mindlessness in the violence dept just turns me completely off.

A perfect example of this was "Robocop II". Totally over the top violence with completely absurd "justifications" for some of the overly long shoot-outs completely ruined this movie.....I almost had no intention of seeing Robocop III because I expected more of the same.

Having been a combat medic in Viet Nam for 2 1/2 years I know how wounds should look and "act". I watched "Saving Private Ryan" and the battlefield injuries portrayed really sent a "deja vu" type chill through me. VERY VERY well done.....I was highly impressed. The story was well told but alas, I really don't watch movies for plot or story so much as for how well the FX are done.

I enjoy some 'spatter flix' for the above reason.....I know how blood acts under certain conditions and I like to see if the writers and directors know as well. As I stated earlier the chest burster scene in "Alien" was fabulous, as was the exploding head in the original "Scanners".

I also know that it's all make believe and in that respect it doesn't bother me or give me bad dreams or the urge to go do the same.

I also thought "Scarey Movie" was the funniest damn thing I ever saw. I nearly wet my pants I got to laughing so hard. I nearly sent a 44Oz Coke back out thru my nose several times but the popcorn already lodged there kept that from happening!


Shaaruuk

[Sharuuk]

You see her get sprayed, and she genuinely looked horrified.

That was Angela Cartwright I believe......and it's her vioce you hear saying: "Ahhgh God....!" NOT in the script! What happened was that real (sterile) chickens blood was pumped thru the tubing and one of the tubes popped loose and sprayed her directly in the mouth as well as the face.

Stage blood is made with Karo Syrup as a base and has a distinct taste......REAL BLOOD tastes completely different, and is INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE! (YEUUUUUCHHHH!!!) This is what freaked her out so bad.....the taste of REAL BLOOD ostensibly from John Hurt's chest!!!

Also, little factoid here. Ridley Scott (director) kept it a completely closed set and made the cast actually live on it. The cast was never given more of the script than what they needed to accpmplish the scene and NO ONE saw the creature until it was their turn to die. That's how he kept getting that "what the ****?" look or "holy sh*t" expression every time. No one had any idea what was going to happen next. The pressure and tension on the "ship" got so bad that both Yaphet Kotto and Angela Cartwright nearly had nervous breakdowns.

Now THAT'S REALISM!!!!

Shaaruuk

[UncleMonty]

I don't go in for horror myself - there's enough in real life, an' all that... But I'll have to admit that some of the best one-liners I've ever heard were in the "Tremors" movies.

"I am COMPLETELY out of ammo! That's... That's never HAPPENED to me before!"

[Sharuuk]

I don't go in for horror myself - there's enough in real life, an' all that... But I'll have to admit that some of the best one-liners I've ever heard were in the "Tremors" movies.

"I am COMPLETELY out of ammo! That's... That's never HAPPENED to me before!"

The "horror" of, say Michael Meyers, Freddy Kreuger, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface....to name a few is so outside the realm of real life that I can only shake my head at the occasional wack-o who actually emulates these monsters. And there was one nutcase in, I think Washington state that made a Freddy Kreuger blade glove and even slashed a couple of folks with it. Fortunately, he didn't have the demonic strength of F.K. and one of his intended victims though moderately injured beat the ever lovin' dog crap out of him and handed him over to the police.

I wouldn't consider "Tremors" or any of it's sequals to be "horror" movies per se. More action/suspense/comedy. And you're right about the one-liners.


Shaaruuk

[Squeaky Bunny]

Michael Moore and Al Franken, now that's REALLY scary!!!

[Sharuuk]

Michael Moore and Al Franken, now that's REALLY scary!!!

Heh....good one ! But don't you think those 2 are more like "Scarey Movie" or maybe even "Dumb & Dumber-er"?

Shaaruuk


Did you get the pix I sent?

[Squeaky Bunny]

Naw, that's more like Al Gore as Christopher Walken.

[Sharuuk]

Naw, that's more like Al Gore as Christopher Walken.

I just had a total mental lock-up trying to visualize that performance!!!




Shaaruuk

(Still wondering about the pix.)