ViceFanMan Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 3 minutes ago, Vicefan7777 said: Absolutely agree about the jump scares. I would like to add the part where James Brolin's character fall through the stairs into the oily mess and his dog rescues him. Gave me super chills!! Even the very beginning where it shows the first family in the house being murdered by the older brother (which is a true story concerning the Defao-sp? family) is scary & wild! As for whether the Lutz family haunting events happened, which is what the novel & movie are based on, that’s the debate. They moved in after the Defaos. There’s a lot of controversy & others involved with the events that say it was a hoax & contrived to get attention. Others, including family members, swear it all happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicefan7777 Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 3 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said: Even the very beginning where it shows the first family in the house being murdered by the older brother (which is a true story concerning the Defao-sp? family) is scary & wild! As for whether the Lutz family haunting events happened, which is what the novel & movie are based on, that’s the debate. They moved in after the Defaos. There’s a lot of controversy & others involved with the events that say it was a hoax & contrived to get attention. Others, including family members, swear it all happened. Yep! The beginning is chilling also. I watched a jail house interview with Ronald Defeo Jr in which he claimed his sister did the killings at the beginning of the film and he was defending himself when he killed her. He also claimed his attorney came up with the idea that the house was haunted. A real mystery indeed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Vicefan7777 said: Yep! The beginning is chilling also. I watched a jail house interview with Ronald Defeo Jr in which he claimed his sister did the killings at the beginning of the film and he was defending himself when he killed her. He also claimed his attorney came up with the idea that the house was haunted. A real mystery indeed. Yeah, I saw that, too! He was scary...reminded me of Charles Manson! He originally said there was evil in the house, and demonic voices told him to do it. Later, then he said he made it up. The Lutz children still claim all the evil & haunting with their family happened...George & Kathy are both deceased now. Famous demonologists Ed & Lorraine Warren also investigated the incident & house, and they too claim it was full of evil. However, as wild and terrifying as their cases/stories are (some of which include the Annabell case, the Conjuring cases, etc...) I question what was real & what was added to make them more entertaining. None of the families that have lived in the house since, have claimed any hauntings or attacks. They all supposedly were just fine. But, whether this particular case was real or not...it makes for an awesome story & movie! Edited February 1, 2022 by ViceFanMan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedDragon86 Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 11 hours ago, ViceFanMan said: It was popular at the time, based on the true story & novel...so it probably wasn’t low-low budget, but it wasn’t a big budget project like Star Wars, or Superman, or other mega-studio movies of the late 70s. It was just a popular scary movie that gained more popularity & even cult-status over the years. I think the pig eyes were seen by Margot Kidder out the window ...but again, this didn’t have the budget to include the newest special effects at the time...so it used what it could. The pig eyes are still pretty freaky, unexpected, and make you jump the first time you see the film. James Brolin constantly chopping wood was supposed to be strange & weird...Margot Kidder even tells him in the film to stop, as they have more than enough. She knows something isn’t right! He’s supposed to be bizarre and do bizarre things, because the evil in the house was trying to possess him & take him over. The evil was in & revolved around the house...so a good portion of the movie will be about & take place in it. You could even say the house was the main star & character...everyone else were just co-stars. I thought the scenes with the priest towards the beginning, and Helen Shaver in the basement finding the hidden red room were superbly acted & very frightening! It’s probably my favorite haunted-house film...it focuses more on the scares, jumps, & unknown (which I like), rather than blood-n-guts & corny one-liners, while slicing-n-dicing everyone up like a lot of horror movies do. My main gripe with the film was that it pushed Rod Steiger and they other supporting cast aside, they should have been involved in the story. The demon should not have bee a demonic pig either, would have been so much more creepier it was the figure of a man with red eyes. With movie budgets, I don't think they dictate the quality of the story. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the greatest horrors and the budget was $140.000, Halloween $300.000, Black Christmas $620.000, Friday the 13th $550.000. This was almost 5 million dollars and it was mainly in a house. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 1, 2022 Report Share Posted February 1, 2022 32 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said: My main gripe with the film was that it pushed Rod Steiger and they other supporting cast aside, they should have been involved in the story. The demon should not have bee a demonic pig either, would have been so much more creepier it was the figure of a man with red eyes. With movie budgets, I don't think they dictate the quality of the story. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is one of the greatest horrors and the budget was $140.000, Halloween $300.000, Black Christmas $620.000, Friday the 13th $550.000. This was almost 5 million dollars and it was mainly in a house. Totally agree that a budget does not dictate whether a film is good or not...many low budget movies have been way better & even eventually gained more popularity than some major big budget films! I love that you mentioned Halloween...perfect example of how a lower or low budget movie can have a huge impact & eventually reach cult-status! Texas Chainsaw Massacre is not one of my favorites...but it was a low budget film that became popular. There was no massacre by chainsaw in Texas, or anywhere else for that matter, by the way (although you’ll have people saying that their cousin’s best friend’s sister & all their dogs used to live in the town it supposedly happened, or right down the road from Leatherface’s house, or whatever, lol ), the true story behind that was a farce. The “idea” of Leatherface (as well as Norman Bates from Psycho & Hannibal Lecter from Silence of the Lambs) was actually based off real life serial killer Ed Gein from Wisconsin in the 50s. But, with “Amityville”, Rod Steiger’s character wasn’t necessarily that important to the story...the main plot revolved around the house & the family living there. He was just a side-line, as was George’s friend & his wife...Helen Shaver’s character. The pig eyes was only one form that the evil manifested itself in...there were many other things it caused or did to terrorize the family. But, the demon or evil wasn’t necessarily specifically a pig itself. Everyone has their likes & dislikes...this movie obviously isn’t one of your favorites, lol! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augusta Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 Oh! Ouch, it's conversation about those scare-flicks from the '70s. I don't know how I made it through that period, and I'm happy I never have to live through that time again---I was young enough and imaginative enough that even the lowest budget ones put the bigtime fright on me! Even the subway posters from any one of those movies scared me!. LOL. Yes, I remember Burnt Offerings... Karen Black and Oliver Reed formed a good combo for the task. That was one of the better flicks. Do you remember Beyond the Door, or The Hearse? Quite capable Hollywood performers, but just not the right placement in the movie to make it convincing. I felt as if Amityville Horror was suffering from that too. James Brolin and Ms Kidder are fine and skilled individuals,... but didn't feel like the right team to tell the story somehow. And maybe the director didn't quite work any magic on this picture either----the lower the budget on a movie, the more a skilled director can prove a godsend. If I have to love James Brolin in a scary movie, I remember him and Kathleen Nolan in The Car! Remember that one? Cuz when I have to be scared by something evil, I prefer some town police guys with me... And I don't have to see the devil's face, cuz he bought the smoke glass panels for his vehicle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedDragon86 Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 (edited) 50 minutes ago, Augusta said: Oh! Ouch, it's conversation about those scare-flicks from the '70s. I don't know how I made it through that period, and I'm happy I never have to live through that time again---I was young enough and imaginative enough that even the lowest budget ones put the bigtime fright on me! Even the subway posters from any one of those movies scared me!. LOL. Yes, I remember Burnt Offerings... Karen Black and Oliver Reed formed a good combo for the task. That was one of the better flicks. Do you remember Beyond the Door, or The Hearse? Quite capable Hollywood performers, but just not the right placement in the movie to make it convincing. I felt as if Amityville Horror was suffering from that too. James Brolin and Ms Kidder are fine and skilled individuals,... but didn't feel like the right team to tell the story somehow. And maybe the director didn't quite work any magic on this picture either----the lower the budget on a movie, the more a skilled director can prove a godsend. If I have to love James Brolin in a scary movie, I remember him and Kathleen Nolan in The Car! Remember that one? Cuz when I have to be scared by something evil, I prefer some town police guys with me... And I don't have to see the devil's face, cuz he bought the smoke glass panels for his vehicle. Yeah "Amityville Horror" was missing something badly, felt so empty and it wasn't frightening at all. Roger Ebert summed it up perfectly. "In order to be a horror movie, a horror movie needs a real Horror. The creature in "Alien" was truly gruesome. The case of possession in "The Exorcist" was profoundly frightening" "The problem with "The Amityville Horror" is that, in a very real sense, there's nothing there. We watch two hours of people being frightened and dismayed, and we ask ourselves... what for? If it's real, let it have happened to them. Too bad, Lutzes! If it's made up, make it more entertaining. If they can't make up their minds... why should we?" Edited February 3, 2022 by RedDragon86 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 3, 2022 Report Share Posted February 3, 2022 1 hour ago, Augusta said: Oh! Ouch, it's conversation about those scare-flicks from the '70s. I don't know how I made it through that period, and I'm happy I never have to live through that time again---I was young enough and imaginative enough that even the lowest budget ones put the bigtime fright on me! Even the subway posters from any one of those movies scared me!. LOL. Yes, I remember Burnt Offerings... Karen Black and Oliver Reed formed a good combo for the task. That was one of the better flicks. Do you remember Beyond the Door, or The Hearse? Quite capable Hollywood performers, but just not the right placement in the movie to make it convincing. I felt as if Amityville Horror was suffering from that too. James Brolin and Ms Kidder are fine and skilled individuals,... but didn't feel like the right team to tell the story somehow. And maybe the director didn't quite work any magic on this picture either----the lower the budget on a movie, the more a skilled director can prove a godsend. If I have to love James Brolin in a scary movie, I remember him and Kathleen Nolan in The Car! Remember that one? Cuz when I have to be scared by something evil, I prefer some town police guys with me... And I don't have to see the devil's face, cuz he bought the smoke glass panels for his vehicle. I felt Burnt Offerings was boring & poorly acted...not that scary, lol! I’ve heard of The Hearse, but not seen it...not ever heard of Beyond the Door? I felt Amityville Horror was very well done for the time...very freaky & scary! I actually liked the cast choices as they seemed like a typical, regular lower-middle class family trying to make-it...which is supposedly what the Lutz family was. They just seemed like realistic people that “normal” (non-Hollywood) people can relate to. It was a lower budget movie in the late 70s, so it didn’t have a bunch of fancy special effects...but it focused more on the jumps, unknown, eerie, and mood—which I like, rather than blood-n-guts or gore (which to me is more gross than scary ). But, everyone likes or dislikes things for various reasons...to each his or her own! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vicefan7777 Posted February 7, 2022 Report Share Posted February 7, 2022 I was in the mood to watch a Sci-fi classic. The 1968 film Planet of the Apes. This very original film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter. Heston portrays an astronaut who leaves earth, bound for a planet over 300 lights years away. He goes into sleep hibernation and arrives 2200 years later on a planet where apes are the dominant species and humans are seen as lower class animals who are all mutes. . Heston's character is captured and eventually meets two friendly chimpanzees (Roddy and Kim) who help him escape and the ending is nothing less than shocking!!! The success of this film lead to four sequels. A very entertaining film!! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augusta Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 On 2/3/2022 at 11:00 AM, ViceFanMan said: I felt Burnt Offerings was boring & poorly acted...not that scary, lol! I’ve heard of The Hearse, but not seen it...not ever heard of Beyond the Door? Thank goodness most of these were missed or forgotten. There was a formula in the structuring of most of them: get a well-known actor and actress (who might have been rated highly in the 50s/60s, but is now waning if fame), and pair them up in a fright show. Gregory Peck + Lee formed well in The Omen. Joseph Cotten and Trish Vandevere didn't work out so well in The Hearse, nor did taking previous-sweetheart-now-matured-mom actress Juliet Mills and filming her cranking her head around like Linda Blair in her Beyond the Door fright show. There were others too. Demon Seed (eeewwww). The Sentinel (umm, not terrible) The Horror at 37,000 feet. (Evil on a jumbo jet...Don't laugh. Hey, why are you laughing?) And lastly in my memory, The Entity. (Very disturbing for gals and guys to watch, but also based on a true ordeal a woman apparently went through, and made actress Barbara Hershey a memorable actress) If you want to be scared by Karen Black, she did it for me forever in a made-for-tv scare flick called Trilogy of Terror. Made you want to kiss that actress' hand. The writer of Trilogy of Terror is a Grand Master we all know....by his work, but not always by his name Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Ferrariman Posted February 8, 2022 Administrators Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 Well the oscar nominations came out this morning and as usual I haven't seen a single one of them! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadrian Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 11 minutes ago, Ferrariman said: Well the oscar nominations came out this morning and as usual I haven't seen a single one of them! We watched La La Land the other night for the first time. That tells you how far behind I am. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 17 minutes ago, Augusta said: Thank goodness most of these were missed or forgotten. There was a formula in the structuring of most of them: get a well-known actor and actress (who might have been rated highly in the 50s/60s, but is now waning if fame), and pair them up in a fright show. Gregory Peck + Lee formed well in The Omen. Joseph Cotten and Trish Vandevere didn't work out so well in The Hearse, nor did taking previous-sweetheart-now-matured-mom actress Juliet Mills and filming her cranking her head around like Linda Blair in her Beyond the Door fright show. There were others too. Demon Seed (eeewwww). The Sentinel (umm, not terrible) The Horror at 37,000 feet. (Evil on a jumbo jet...Don't laugh. Hey, why are you laughing?) And lastly in my memory, The Entity. (Very disturbing for gals and guys to watch, but also based on a true ordeal a woman apparently went through, and made actress Barbara Hershey a memorable actress) If you want to be scared by Karen Black, she did it for me forever in a made-for-tv scare flick called Trilogy of Terror. Made you want to kiss that actress' hand. The writer of Trilogy of Terror is a Grand Master we all know....by his work, but not always by his name I have and like The Omen, and I think I’ve seen The Entity...but I’ve not seen all of those others. I just didn’t like Burnt Offerings...and I’m not a huge Karen Black fan. Was “Burnt” and a couple of those others originally TV movies? I don’t remember hearing all of them being released to theaters... I just really like Amityville Horror, as to me it’s different from the typical “formula” for the time...it was more freaky & scary compared to many of the others that were made around that same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedDragon86 Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 "The Changeling" (1980) starring George C Scott is an excellent haunted house horror. Great story and very scary at times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 17 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said: "The Changeling" (1980) starring George C Scott is an excellent haunted house horror. Great story and very scary at times. I have this movie...very spooky & good plot! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedDragon86 Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 3 minutes ago, ViceFanMan said: I have this movie...very spooky & good plot! Have you seen The Haunting? (1963) There is no blood, there is no slashing, we don't even get to see the ghosts but it's possibly the scariest film ever in my opinion. On a psychological level it really get to you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augusta Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 On 2/6/2022 at 8:54 PM, Vicefan7777 said: I was in the mood to watch a Sci-fi classic. The 1968 film Planet of the Apes. This very original film stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter. Heston portrays an astronaut who leaves earth, bound for a planet over 300 lights years away. He goes into sleep hibernation and arrives 2200 years later on a planet where apes are the dominant species and humans are seen as lower class animals who are all mutes. . Heston's character is captured and eventually meets two friendly chimpanzees (Roddy and Kim) who help him escape and the ending is nothing less than shocking!!! The success of this film lead to four sequels. A very entertaining film!! AAaawww, yeah. It's a series I respected a lot, even as I got more grownup and mature. Unlike MOST I, II, Part-3, movie franchises, the original "Apes" string of movies was pretty intellectual and cleverly thought out, storywise. Right away during the making of the movie you watched, the actors and extras felt first-hand about the "prejudices" that were the driving motives of the astronaut and his "monkey conquerers". Off-set, all the cast wearing gorilla make-up tended to eat lunch with the members wearing the same gorilla outfit as them---and so on for the orangutan costumed cast, and the chimp made-up members---it just happens. One actor agreed to do the next sequel only if they promised to kill his character off---he didn't want to be any a prolonged franchise of this type. One sequel was wrapping up post production at the time of the race riots going on in the US----and the filmmakers went back and revised the ending of the movie, so as to imply a socially hopeful ending is possible in film AND in real life too (kudos to them for their conscience). I think the LAST movie in that original franchise, "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" is the weakest of the collection. "Conquest for" really closes the story's circle without needing a "Battle for" installment. But compared with the contemporary string of "The Apes" movies (despite the CGi and David Sidaris' performances), I think it's still the more social-challenging version of the story. Seeing people speaking fluently as simians demeaning and trodding on humans is always good for "civilized" people to watch and feel racially tense and uncomfortable. The CGi version refuses to tackle that topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 Just now, RedDragon86 said: Have you seen The Haunting? (1963) There is no blood, there is no slashing, we don't even get to see the ghosts but it's possibly the scariest film ever in my opinion. On a psychological level it really get to you. Yes...I have it, too along with the 1999 remake with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones! I like both movies, but the original 63 film was very freaky and scary at times...very psychologically impactful! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augusta Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 That's cuz The Haunting (the first version you mentioned) was done by one of the most flexible, all-around master of everything directors you'll ever see: Robert Wise. No joke, that man is willing to give his first try at ANY kind of movie, and somehow makes it "the best of its genre" in that one try. The Haunting is considered the cleverest, best haunted-house movie out of Hollywood. He did The Day The Earth Stood Still, and it's considered the top of the mountain, hauntingly way above anything else that came out of campy sci-fi in the 50's. He did The Set-Up, and it gets called one of the most true-to-feeling depictions of a boxing match ever on film. He did the noir movie Odds Against Tomorrow, and it's labeled a film noir masterpiece. He did the war movie The Sand Pebbles, and it gets Steve McQueen his only only Academy Award nomination EVER. He did West Side Story, and it's the best, most stirring movie-musical that a non-musical lover could ever sit down to watch. Holy Cow.... Robert Wise. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Ferrariman Posted February 8, 2022 Administrators Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 6 hours ago, Dadrian said: We watched La La Land the other night for the first time. That tells you how far behind I am. The last oscar winner (winner?) I saw a while ago was "Nomadland" 2 hours of your life you'll never get back. The last oscar winner that I loved was "Crash" 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadrian Posted February 8, 2022 Report Share Posted February 8, 2022 56 minutes ago, Ferrariman said: The last oscar winner (winner?) I saw a while ago was "Nomadland" 2 hours of your life you'll never get back. The last oscar winner that I loved was "Crash" Well we enjoyed La La Land 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ViceFanMan Posted February 9, 2022 Report Share Posted February 9, 2022 10 hours ago, Ferrariman said: Well the oscar nominations came out this morning and as usual I haven't seen a single one of them! I heard the remake of Nightmare Alley was nominated for several Oscars...IT SHOULD!! Best movie I’ve seen in years! In my opinion, everything was superb...not a flaw! It’s probably more of another rendition of the original novel, rather than a remake of the original classic 1947 movie, starring Tyrone Power. I love & have that...but in this case the new movie is actually superior, in my opinion. I hope it wins awards...it deserves them! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Ferrariman Posted February 9, 2022 Administrators Report Share Posted February 9, 2022 12 hours ago, ViceFanMan said: I heard the remake of Nightmare Alley was nominated for several Oscars...IT SHOULD!! Best movie I’ve seen in years! In my opinion, everything was superb...not a flaw! It’s probably more of another rendition of the original novel, rather than a remake of the original classic 1947 movie, starring Tyrone Power. I love & have that...but in this case the new movie is actually superior, in my opinion. I hope it wins awards...it deserves them! "Nightmare Alley" is definitely on my "must see" list along with "Dune" 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dadrian Posted February 13, 2022 Report Share Posted February 13, 2022 Not a movie, but does anyone here watch “Ozark” on Netflix? Forgive me if I asked last season , but the new season is continuing the greatness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCBman Posted February 24, 2022 Report Share Posted February 24, 2022 (edited) On 2/13/2022 at 2:42 PM, Dadrian said: Not a movie, but does anyone here watch “Ozark” on Netflix? Forgive me if I asked last season , but the new season is continuing the greatness. Haven't seen any of this series. Sounds interesting. I recently watched The Package (1989) starring Gene Hackman. He retired from acting in 2004 - I really miss him. It had a very similar feel to director Andrew Davis' 1993 hit, The Fugitive. Three Miami Vice alums were in it: Pam Grier, Reni Santoni and John Heard. The movie also stars Tommy Lee Jones and the always wonderful Dennis Franz. Edited February 24, 2022 by OCBman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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