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Post by Andrew on Nov 6, 2006 10:35:08 GMT -5
This weekend I finally watched the French 1928 version of The Fall of the House of Usher. I had picked it up at the library here, and meant to watch it on Halloween night, but didn't. Whoah...creepy! They changed Poe's story too much for my taste, but, as the back of the DVD box says, it's "pure gothic eye-candy and must-see viewing for all aficionados of fantastic film." Very effective use of the special effects available at the time, good acting (silent film, mind you), great music (this one had music that was put together in 1980...I don't know how they presented it originally) based on creepy stuff from the middle ages. Yes, slow-going by today's standards (in fact I even dozed off a couple times), but it's only 66 minutes long, and I think worth it. Just don't sit on an easy chair after not enough sleep the night before.
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Post by erik on Nov 6, 2006 10:40:09 GMT -5
Quote by Andrew re. BLAIR WITCH PROJECT:
With a budget of just $20,000 or so, they had no choice--it was done out of necessity, and I think they pulled it off. Besides, that kind of budget wouldn't even pay for the catering on most Hollywood movies.
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Post by arjan on Nov 6, 2006 10:43:20 GMT -5
Much like Eraserhead and other films, I think Blair Witch is more about creepy atmospherics than plot. It was certainly more interesting that any slasher film I've ever seen. Even Halloween. Some slashers are more funny than scary. Sometimes intentional, most of the times not. A movie like "The Pool". Not a good movie, really, but it has Isla Fischer in bikini. That's a plus. For me at least. There's some guys in swim trousers too, that maybe more of your interest A typical slasher (you know, group of youth, one leaves the group, gets killed, another starts searching him or her (thus leaves the group), gets killed, a third gets suspicious and thinks it's wise to leave the group and gets killed, anyway, you get the idea) but during the end scene it got me thinking 'how could I have missed this' when the killer was revealed...
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Post by arjan on Nov 6, 2006 10:52:58 GMT -5
This weekend I finally watched the French 1928 version of The Fall of the House of Usher. Sounds interesting. I've seen only 2 silent movies, I own both on dvd. One is "Nosferatu", from 1922, an adaption of the 'Dracula' novel and used (the movie) as input for the movie "Shadow of the Vampire", a fictional documentary about shooting that movie. Some parts of it are based on facts though, like the terror the actors experienced when first meeting 'Max Schreck" (who plays Dracula). The other is way off topic here, it's "La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc", a movie about Joan of Arc, focussing on the trial and the torture Joan had to get through, while she kept insisting she had actually gotten messages from God. Well, offtopic, it's a lot more intense and psychological terror than the movies telling Joan's life story, "Joan of Arc" and "The Messenger" starring Lee Lee Sobieski and Milla Jovovich (I do like the Leelee version though).
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Post by robertaxel on Nov 6, 2006 13:19:42 GMT -5
Werner Herzog's 1979 adaptation of Nosferaftu was impressive and creepy, I though
Robert
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Post by arjan on Nov 6, 2006 13:28:27 GMT -5
Yeah, that's my favourite version of the Dracula story. Some shots were done in Holland for that movie, the town square with the church is in Delft.
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