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Post by james on Sept 18, 2010 9:52:30 GMT -5
Regarding the discussion of horror anthologies, I loved Trick R Treat. My only big reservation is the opening scene (part of the "wrap-around" that sandwiches the stories) - it seems a bit too cruel and mean-spirited. The stories have plenty of violence, but it's never sadistic; the opening scene is, a bit.
One neat element of this movie is that elements of each of the stories overlap the others. Characters who are the leads of one story appear or even have secondary roles in others. There's even one scene that is used in two of the stories, shot differently for each one. And if you didn't know that Brian Cox and Dylan Baker are two of the best actors in movies today, well... hell, you should know that already.
I have no idea why Warners sat on the film for two years, but the rumor (which may be BS, for all that I know) is that they buried the film and then dumped it to DVD after Superman Returns didn't meet their box-office expectations (Bryan Singer produced Trick R Treat, and the script was written by Michael Dougherty, who did the same for the Superman film).
James
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dread
New Member
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Post by dread on Sept 18, 2010 11:25:43 GMT -5
I'm of the opinion that big studios just don't know what to do with horror films. The above may be true but I think that the real truth is that when something cool and throwback like TRT comes out the first thought is to be scared and wonder how to market it.
When really all you have to do is put a representative trailer out and RELEASE THE FUCKING FILM AT HALLOWEEN to just see how much people actually WANT to see fun horror films. TRT would have beaten Saw 4 or whatever shitheap it would have been up against by word of mouth alone.
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Post by tombitd on Sept 18, 2010 12:38:29 GMT -5
When really all you have to do is put a representative trailer out and RELEASE THE FUCKING FILM AT HALLOWEEN to just see how much people actually WANT to see fun horror films. TRT would have beaten Saw 4 or whatever shitheap it would have been up against by word of mouth alone. The thing about the way major studios view horror films these days is that they believe that the real money for horror is in DVD--so the bulk of them are now released in April-June so they can be out on DVD in time for October. Luckily, the success of Paranormal Activity seems to have broken the stranglehold of the SAW franchise...Oren Peli has proved that things other than that stupid franchise can survive in October. |
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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 18, 2010 12:39:39 GMT -5
I've moved TrT up to the top of my queue as I love anthology pictures. Indeed, the same day I listened to this latest show, HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD arrived, and I have ASYLUM out now as I love those Amicus movies -- a true golden age as Tom says. (But why-oh-why are there these effed-up cuts of VAULT OF HORROR out there?) I doubt we'll see a return of this genre, at least in terms of wide-release, big screen versions. If GRINDHOUSE didn't take off, I'm not sure Hollywood would try anything similar. Which is a little odd as the artier indie crowd seem so taken with the inter-connected, big cast pictures like CRASH and BABEL.
Another memory I had was back in the days before VHS and cable, for those of us who lived in the 'burbs, if not the actual sticks, there were tacky "novelisations" of all the movies we were never going to see. I read (an re-read, and re-read...) the novelized TALES FROM THE CRYPT, among others.
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Post by james on Sept 18, 2010 14:10:42 GMT -5
What's really annoying about the cuts on the Vault of Horror DVD is that one of the cut scenes (the spigot scene) was included in the trailer that's also on the DVD (albeit in black and white).
James
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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 18, 2010 16:23:05 GMT -5
What's really annoying about the cuts on the Vault of Horror DVD is that one of the cut scenes (the spigot scene) was included in the trailer that's also on the DVD (albeit in black and white). James ...plus, I DVR'ed this once (I think off Fox Movie Channel) and they'd cut out the framing sequence. WTF? |
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Post by tombitd on Sept 18, 2010 19:47:27 GMT -5
I've moved TrT up to the top of my queue as I love anthology pictures. Indeed, the same day I listened to this latest show, HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD arrived, and I have ASYLUM out now as I love those Amicus movies -- a true golden age as Tom says. I promise one of these days--and I'm pretty sure this is mainly my own lazy fault--Derrick and I will do an episode devoted to Amicus. I love that company's anthology output, and have been holding off on talking about many of their films to focus on the entire canon of this great, great studio. Incidentally, Amicus has apparently reformed but, much like Hammer, they've abandoned the style of film that made them famous. |
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Post by tombitd on Sept 18, 2010 19:49:27 GMT -5
What's really annoying about the cuts on the Vault of Horror DVD is that one of the cut scenes (the spigot scene) was included in the trailer that's also on the DVD (albeit in black and white). That story is still the one I remember most vividly...and the one that gave me nightmares as a kid. But then--the poster, with the horrific face bursting out of the Vault scared the piss out of me. |
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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 19, 2010 7:55:10 GMT -5
HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD still holds up really well and is altogether excellent. ASYLUM, not so much, but there are some cool features on the DVD including a commentary from Roy Ward Baker and a "warts and all" featurette on the history of Amicus.
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Post by grubl on Sept 19, 2010 13:59:59 GMT -5
Very few things scared me as much as TALES FROM THE CRYPT at the drive-in as a kid. But even then I wondered why the guy who was being chopped up by his wife was bleeding so much if he was supposed to be enbalmed? And further more, why was he enbalmed if he was restored just as he was immediately before the accident (he had died of a heart attack first)?
I love all of those early '70s anthology films. None of the later attempts seem to really catch that flavor.
And I am also tired of finding butchered prints of VAULT OF HORROR.
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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 19, 2010 15:42:56 GMT -5
And I am also tired of finding butchered prints of VAULT OF HORROR. I even think, surprisingly, that ASYLUM fell into the public domain, as I recall watching it online when stuck at work on a weekend about 10 years ago. |
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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 25, 2010 23:16:34 GMT -5
My only big reservation is the opening scene (part of the "wrap-around" that sandwiches the stories) - it seems a bit too cruel and mean-spirited. The stories have plenty of violence, but it's never sadistic; the opening scene is, a bit. James Hmmm, I didn't mind the opening scene, but thought the Dylan Baker bit was pretty cruel. And the Brian Cox thing went on too long for my taste. I did like the other two sections and liked the overlapping touches as well as the overall look and particularly the production design. |
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Post by james on Oct 8, 2010 10:52:07 GMT -5
Trick R Treat is playing at the Landmark Sunshine in Manhattan this weekend, at midnight Friday (technically, Saturday) and Saturday (technically, Sunday). This is your rare chance to see it in a theater. The Landmark is on East Houston St.
James
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