Scary Movies

These are some that I like:

Scream
A Haunting in Connecticut
The Secret Window
The Amityville Horror (the 2005 version, I haven't seen the 1979 version)
The Skeleton Key
Signs
The Sixth Sense
What Lies Beneath

"Prelude" by Levi Beamish

I recently found this video on YouTube, and thought it would be good to share. It's not a professional video, it was just made by a guy in New Zealand, but it's really good. Since we were talking about editing a few weeks ago, I thought it would be appropriate since the editing is great, and it's got a lot of really excellent visuals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uv6JNPM841A

Analysis of Image

For the analysis of an image paper I used the famous picture from the film "The Shining"

Below is the image I used for my paper and a video I found humorous regarding how one can misinterpret the meaning behind an image. In this case: the overall plot of the shining was turned around to seem happy rather than frightening.

YOUTUBE VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6raCCmAFk

ENJOY.

31 Nights of Horror.

Although October is more than halfway over, I have created a challenge for myself at the beginning of the month to watch one horror movie per day for all 31 days of october to celebrate the coming of Halloween. It's been challenging to set aside time during the week with homework and class and such, but i've managed to successfully stick to the challenge. In addition, I've been further challenged to watch films that I have not yet seen before. Here's the list so far (I've doubled up on some days.)

OCT 1: A Nightmare on Elm Street (the original)

OCT 2: The Evil Dead

OCT 3: Bram Stoker's Dracula

OCT 4: An American Werewolf in London

OCT 5: (Clive Barker's) Lord of Illusions

OCT 6: The Wolfman (2010)

OCT 7: Bloodsucking Freaks

OCT 8: Suspiria

OCT 9: Black Xmas

OCT 10: Cabin Fever

OCT 11: Dead Snow

OCT 12: Fright Night

OCT 13: Pet Semetary

OCT 14: 100 Tears/Let the Right One In

OCT 15: Last House on the Left/The Sentinel

OCT 16: Hellraiser

OCT 17: The Shining

OCT 18: Slither

OCT 19: Prom Night

OCT 20: Friday the 13th: A New Beginning

OCT 21: The People Under the Stairs

I'M TAKING REQUESTS SO COMMENT YOUR THOUGHTS AND WHAT NOT! :)

Horror?

I don't see the point in purposefully scaring yourself. If we are going to watch a horror film, I think we should focus on the elements of horror, and not just watching a horror movie because its "scary."

This is the image I used for the image analysis paper

Pan's Labyrinth Review-Molly Jacobson

Molly Jacobson
Professor Hammond
Visual Literacy
October 20, 2010

Pan’s Labyrinth Film Review

Pan’s Labyrinth is a unique and twisted representation of strategically blended childhood fantasies with reality type situations. Ofelia, the main character, has a run in with the faun, a grotesque creature said to be from a realm of fairies sent to bring the fairy princess (Ofelia) back to the kingdom before the last portal to return was destroyed. The faun told the young and naive Ofelia that she was secretly the lost princess that needed to be returned to the fairyland and would need to successfully finish three difficult and dangerous tasks in order gain access and become a princess again. If Ofelia can effectively finish the tasks she will unlock the portal to return to her real father waiting for her in the fairy world, and regain her position as the fairy princess, something that she longs to be.

After finishing the three tasks, going through the painful loss of her mother, and the horrible wrath of her stepfather, Ofelia finally makes her way to the finish the final obstacle; bringing her brother to the labyrinth. Meanwhile during her journey the world surrounding her is crumbling, the maid Mercedes and the Doctor are secret insiders for the crusaders surrounding the camp, trying to take over the stepfather’s army. The movie ends with Mercedes people killing the patrolmen and killing the stepfather.

I have read many different reviews of Pans Labyrinth and have come to my own conclusion about what the movie is trying to portray. The visual aspects of the movie such as the music and mise-en-scene of a gloomy, depressing, and dark place make the viewer feel and see the undesirable and dangerous world that the director Guillermo del Toro was trying to depict.

In the very ending of the movie Ofelia is trying to finish her final task of bringing her baby brother to the labyrinth. After poisoning her stepfather he continues to chase her through the maze until he finally reaches her, grabbing the child and chillingly putting one bullet into her chest as he watches her drop to the floor, leaving her to die as he turns his back on her to leave.

One thing I noticed at the end when Ofelia held the baby talking to the faun was that when the camera was from her point of view you could see the faun, but when it was from the stepfather’s point of view you were unable to see him, revealing just how powerful the girls imagination is. Thus it continued to make my notion that death was the ultimate final step for Ofelia to return to the kingdom of her father and return to her thrown as the fairy princess in the made up world she had conjured up for herself.

Additionally, there are some details of the movie where I looked deeper so I could understand it better. For instance the chalk that can draw and make a door where as there would be no other way of getting into the place. That little piece of chalk is so significant because it is one of the most popular ‘activities’ of young children and allows them to express their imagination on the ground below them. It brings back memories of my childhood drawing flowers, butterflies, and stick figures on my driveway, thinking that I had created something real, only for it to be washed away by the rain and forgotten about. I can think of a million times I drew on my driveway with chalk hoping it would lead me to a different place, even pretending it did. Thus my final analysis to my thesis that in the end the only way for Ofelia to become a princess again and remember her previous role was to die.

Throughout the movie we never knew the fate of Ofelia’s real father, but I had assumed he was dead. So in order for her to be reunited with him she would need to die as well. I was a bit confused with Mercedes being the fairy queen at the ending but the conclusion I made was ever since Ofelia’s mother died, Mercedes had taken her under her wing and cared for her as a mother would, even while her mother was still alive and ill, Mercedes represented a motherly figure in a constant way that was not shown from her biological mother.

Lastly, in a film review of Pan’s Labyrinth by A.O. SCOTT from the New York Times in 2006 had a quote that I thought was worthy of being included, “Fairy tales (and scary movies) are designed to console as well as terrify. What distinguishes “Pan’s Labyrinth,” what makes it art, is that it balances its own magical thinking with the knowledge that not everyone lives happily ever after.”

Children are always going to have an imagination and think outside of the box, something they may truly think is real, such as Ofelia believing in the faun and the fairy world, but is not actually existent in the adult world and is just a fantasy is my final thought on Pan’s Labyrinth. The ending for the child is a happy ending because she really believes she becomes a princess, where as for the adult it’s a disastrous unhappy ending that can only be death.

HORROR MOVIE SUGGESTION

I really think that we should watch Paranormal Activity. I heard it was a really scary movie, but it is not gorey and gruesome like other horror films. Therefore, I think it is appropriate for the genre we are discussing now and it would be something everyone in the class could watch.

My ever-expanding Horror list...

Yes it's that time of year again, the time where we shove our faces with candy corn, die our hair, put on a mask and becoming the ghoulish creatures we really are. This personally is my favorite time of year. I've grown up on horror movies watching one almost every Saturday night for the past few years back home with my brother and best friends. I've also collected an obscene amount of Halloween decorations back home where I created a yearly haunted house or Halloween display.

An example can be seen down here:

Anyways, aside that...I am a horror movie enthusiast and have created a list of some of the scariest horror movies and some of the most entertaining ones in the last 50 years...(I tried to avoid things on the syllabus because I haven't seen them yet) All of which are MUST sees and brilliant for what they are. The following list was composed by myself and several horror movie fiend friends and have been assembled into the collection because they have a strong: original story, cinematography/artistic value, they may conform to the classic clichés, they’ve pushed the genre forward, and/or they have a good scare value to them.

Enjoy and Happy Haunting! :D

Serial Killers:

Halloween – 1978

Halloween II – 1981

Halloween H20 – 1998

(We pretend the others never happened okay?)

Se7en – 1995

Friday the 13^th – 1980

Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984

Scream – 1996

The Silence of the Lambs – 1991

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 2003

Demons:

The Excorcist - 1973

Psycho/Psychological:

The Shinning – 1980

Misery – 1990

Psycho – 1960

Gothika – 2003

Saw – 2004

Carrie – 1976

The Sixth Sense - 1999

Vampires:

Let the Right One In – 2008

The Lost Boys - 1987

30 Days of Night – 2007

Fright Night – 1985

Monsters:

Trick R' Treat – 2007

Jaws – 1975 (yes it’s also an adventure movie but it’s a classic so work with me here!)

Hellraiser - 1987

Werewolves:

An American Werewolf in London - 1981

Silver Bullet - 1985

Cursed – 2003

Zombie Movies:

Dawn of the Dead – 1978 / 2004

Night of the Living Dead - 1968

28 Days Later – 2002

The Crazies – 2010

Haunted House:

Poltergeist – 1982

Amityville Horror - 2005

Haunting in Conneticut - 2009

Other:

Children of the Corn - 1984

Mirrors – 2008

Dead Silence - 2007

House - 2008

The Ring – 2002

Pet Semetary - 1989

The Human Centipede – 2009 (I was forced to put this on but I’m too squeamish and afraid to watch lol)

A few classic not-so-scary movies that I couldn’t pass bringing up! ;D

These are for the faint of heart…just classics that I like to curl up on my couch with a bag of candy corn to every year. J

Sleepy Hollow – 1999

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! - 1988

The Addams Family – 1991

Special Thanks to: My brother Nick, and second family: Alyssa, Kyle, Nancy and Dylan for their help on this! :D

What do you think? Comment below! :D

My top horror films

1.Silence of the Lambs
2.Seven
3.Jaws
4.Saw(series)
5.Friday the 13th (series)
6.Nightmare on Elm Street (series)
7.Texas Chainsaw Massacre (series)
8.Halloween (series)
9.Scream (series)
10.The Lost Boys

while some of these may not entirely horror films (Jaws, Seven, Silence of the Lambs) I feel that they had elements of horror films. I will admit that The Ring, and The Exorcist were the two scariest films that I have seen, but they were so scary that I did not enjoy them. Some others that I was considering were I am Legend, and Signs. My top 8 were head and shoulders better than the others. These were my ten favorite, not necessarily the best because my preferences are different than yours might be.

HORRORS!!!

Halloween is coming up! It’s time to select your favorite fright films. We are studying film genres this term and horror is one of our stopping-off points. List the movies that scare you the most. If you are a real fan, you can put down your Top Ten. Photos and clips are welcome. We might even watch a full length feature in class before the fateful night itself.

Guidelines For a Film Review Assignment

Turning the paper in, on time, properly presented and cited is worth 40% of the grade.

1. Turned in and on time – 10% deducted if it is handed in after class is over on the due date. An additional 10% is taken off for every additional late day. If you anticipate a problem, let me know in advance.
2. Proper presentation means printed, double spaced, and stapled with your name at the top of the front page. (10%)
3. Mention all the works you researched. If you directly quote something, cite it in standard footnote form. If it is a general knowledge source from your readings or viewings on the subject, include it in a bibliography at the end. It is expected that you will do some research and thus have such references. A paper without any looses 10%.

The following items should be included in your film reviews. Each category is valued at 10% of the total.

1. Introduction – Identify the film, its creator(s), its origins, genre, setting or period, year and country of origin, etc. Anything that relates to your subsequent paragraphs should be set up here.
2. Argument – State the idea you are going to argue here. Also list the basic points you will use to support your opinions. Your primary or general argument should be clearly stated.
3. Synopsis – Recount the story in a few paragraphs. This is also an opportunity to introduce elements of the film and comment upon them, such as actors and the quality of their individual performances.
4. Thematic Analysis – Were the filmmakers successful in conveying their ideas as storytellers? This is a good place to talk about the script (plot, character, theme) and why it works or doesn’t as an entertaining and enlightening entity.
5. Technical Analysis – Were the filmmakers successful as artists? Although this and the previous category can and will overlap, here the concentration should be on quality of direction, design, cinematography, editing, musical score, etc.
6. Opinion – Summarize and declare your final statement, supporting your original argument.

These six categories represent areas that need to be covered in a close critical analysis of a film. Although this seems to be a logical progression, it does not dictate a rigid outline. I expect you to exercise your own style when completing these assignments.

My Top 25 Horror Movies (in no specific order)

1. Resident Evil

2. The Descent

3. 30 Days of Night

4. Wrong Turn

5. Scream 3

6. Dawn of the Dead (remake)

7. Halloween: H20

8. Vacancy

9. My Blood Valentine (remake)

10. Hostel Part 2

11. Urban Legends 1 and 2

12.Pitch Black

13. Saw 4

14. Deep Blue Sea

15. Piranha (old version)

16. Anaconda

17. The orphanage

18. Boogeyman

19. Phantoms

20. Mindhunters

21. Jeepers Creepers

22. The Birds 2

23. Captivity

24. The Cube

25. High Tension