Looking for intelligent horror films - how about "The Descent" & "Saw" - Page 5

I enjoyed both the story and acting in "Dog Soldiers". It struck me as unique, and the girl turning on them as she did definitely caught me by surprise! Though, the way they wrecked her car, I can see her losing patience !

"American Werewolf In London" is part of my HD DVD collection. Also Army Of Darkness, Cat People, Dawn Of The Dead (the remake -- accidentally listed it above as BD), House Of Wax (remake -- marginal, but last third is all right, my token Paris Hilton flick ), Land Of The Dead, Seed Of Chucky (couldn't resist Meg Tilly -- I've had a fondness for her ever since "Impulse"), Shaun Of The Dead, Slither, The Thing (also a remake -- I've the original B&W on SD DVD), and White Noise 2.

Serpent And The Rainbow is excellent on LD -- great sound though a 4:3 presentation. Forgot to list 30 Days Of Night on my BD list -- pretty good, though I thought the story weakened as it went on. Went back and forth on The Cave and finally passed on it.

Rawhead Rex and Storm Of The Century are both new to me.

I'm informed Bug has shipped! Yes, the gloss on "The Skeleton Key" is a little distracting, but that ending is downright unnerving -- very discomforting!

I've always been a major fan of doomsday films. Perhaps because they used to be standard late night fare in the good 'ole days! When I was accumulating used LD's, they were among those targeted. Trouble is, I ended up with so many LD's, it's a problem to remember what's there ! I started cataloging them in an Excel spread sheet, but never finished. Let me take a look as far as I got. OK, another couple are "The Day After" and "Testament". The only "Fail-Safe" I'm aware of was directed by Sidney Lumet -- there was another? Don't know Def-Con Four!

By the way, "Silent Running" is kind of an ecological doomsday film, excellent in my opinion!

EDIT - Removed my LD title list.

Oops! I blew the name -- thanks for the correction ! Yes, "Bound" is great (have it on LD) -- I'm a definite Gina Gershon fan !

Geez -- did I kill the thread? Didn't mean to! "Bug" SD DVD and "Gothika" HD DVD just arrived! I'm not expecting a lot from "Gothika", but I get the impression it's at least above average for the genre.

Will have to look into "The Dark"!

Well, I may have the wrong one in mind, and I'm not sure of the title. It was fairly recent (last few years) and entailed darkness as an evil entity that dwelled in an old house (as always ) and preyed upon a family that moved in. At the end, I remember reading the survivors were pursued by it into a tunnel -- included a young girl (Paquin?). My impression at the time was the reviews were far from stellar, and so I never took it seriously, but based on one of the above posts, I wondered if perhaps I should have. Course, I could be thinking of the wrong film !

PS. I see I don't mean the 2005 "The Dark". I like Sean Bean, but what I've read of that film didn't attract me.

Yep, it's the Paquin "Darkness" alright! Wow! It really got slammed on Rotten Tomatoes (4%) and my long term reference "reel.com" slammed it as well. Perhaps I should continue to skip that one!

I'm sorry to hear you didn't care for this film, I'm a long time fan of Famke Janssen and I'm partial to Michael Pare' as well! Perhaps I should do the rental thing .


I don't recall "The Sixth Sense" being mentioned, but it's certainly a good film !

Just watching "Dog Soldiers" for the second time, and the dialog remains excellent -- well above typical for anything on film -- highly believable (IMO) -- the sergeant is nothing less than perfect.

Watched the "The Devil's backbone", and though it was somewhat interesting, it was also drawn out and somewhat lackluster, again IMO! I'd say that film is comprised of several elements and horror is relatively back burner -- brutal manipulation, decite and sadism is more foreground.

I also watched "Machine Girl", pretty decent I think, and "Tokyo Gore Patrol" -- much harder to engage, IMO. Of the four, "Dog Soldiers" is my hands down favorite !

Unfortunately, my Amazon used copy of "Ju-an" is defective, can't get past the roughly halfway point despite multiple polishings ! Perhaps I can get the surface refinished by a local video store, or maybe I just need a non-used copy !

I picked up a copy of "Darkness" and felt it an interesting concept, but it didn't really seem to go anywhere, too laid back a script perhaps?

Watched "REC" (2007) on DVD and later re-bought with "REC 2" (2009) on BD, both very good. After "REC", "Quarantine" (2008) was a bit of a let down, a clearly lesser remake. However, "Quarantine 2" (2011) is excellent (not yet on BD) and could logically serve as a REC 2 (actual REC 2 shifting to third spot). Since then, "REC 3":Genesis (2012) has also surfaced -- takes place at a wedding party..

Couldn't get my used "Ju-on" resurfaced (the video rental stores don't have the equipment anymore) and so bought a new copy. Have been buying some Steven King films on DVD including the above mentioned "Storm of the Century" (1999). Also picking up "Apt Pupil" (1998), "Rose Red" (2002),"It" (1990), "1408" (2007), and the Steven King version of "The Shining" (1997) which is much closer to the original novel than Kubrik's film. Also "Pet Sematary" (1989), despite something of a silliness factor (the 1983 novel was easily superior), and "Maximum Overdrive" (1986) for sheer fun ! By the way, "Cujo" (1983) is a darned good scary film!

I've decide to move on "The Changeling" (1980), looked at it earlier, but never acted. Also "The Innocents" (1961), both DVD.
Edited by TrevorS - 2/21/13 at 11:19pm

I still have to watch my copies of "Wrong Turn" (2003), WT2 (2007), Hell Raiser 2 (1988), and "The Hills Have Eyes" (1977), probably enough inbred to hold me awhile ! I notice "Inbred" (2011) has an RT critic rating of 13%, but seems the audience loves it -- 77%!

For some reason, Jennifer Carpenter as the reporter doesn't work as well as her "REC" counterpart. Maybe the script, maybe the acting, maybe both, but despite having to read subtitles, the original is easily more engaging. I definitely like "Quarantine 2" though, I consider that a worthy "REC" sequel.