JCC Favorite horror anthology series/films

I prefer my horror in truncated form; for a genre dependent on sustaining heightened emotion, there's more prospect for success. Why not list off preferences from television and film?

I'm a sucker for the HBO Tales From the Crypt series. Although it wore out its welcome, the first four seasons were remarkably effective--the episodes helmed by Walter Hill and Robert Zemekis were mini-masterpieces. My favorite would probably be the pilot, "The Man Who Was Death," centering on a self-righteous executioner who strays off into vigilantism. A nasty bit of noir.

Although Twilight Zone: The Movie is largely a missed opportunity, I have great affection for the opening sequence with Albert Brooks and Dan Ackroyd, and of course George Miller's "Nightmare" adaptation, which is among the most visceral 20 minute productions put to celluloid.

Anyone else?

 

It's not a series, but "The Uninvited" is probably the strongest recent entry in this genre.

 

**** you, wocky

just **** you

 

Twilight

 

Rogue, stop being jealous. It is unbecoming.

 

The Twilight Zone, of course. "It's a Good Life" is still one of the creepiest television episodes ever.


You're a BAD MAN! A VERY BAD MAN!

 

You can't go wrong with The Twilight Zone. What I have seen of The Outer Limits seems promising as well.

But above all, I would say that you haven't lived until you have dipped heavily into Alfred Hitchcock's filmography. The man was a genius at producing genuine, intelligent entertainment

 

Same.

 

I'm a fan of Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits. My current favorite horror film is House of a Thousand Corpses.

 

i will always hold a special place in my heart for the Evil Dead films. i have very fond memories of staying up late with my sister and watching it with the sound turned down so as not to alert our parents.

the first movie i was ever afraid of was I Know What You Did Last Summer. i watched it and a few days later i went to summer camp. it was hella scary at night, tramping along in the woods alone at night, with only a little flashlight to keep me safe. i thought there was a crazed killer behind every tree, and i jumped at every shadow.

i saw the first Final Destination, and didn't really have a problem with it. the second one scared the hell out of me and it had probably been out for like six years before i could ever bring myself to watch it. i always got to the point where the first dude dies because a fire escape went through his eye-hole. that messed me up for a while.

i couldn't really do horror movies at all until i was about 17, and i finally accepted the fact that there's not some legion of depraved psychos just waiting in the wings to slaughter me alive.

these days, having come to understand horror jump tactics (SUDDEN CUT TO THE PSYCHO, BLAST OF NOISE TO FREAK YOU OUT) i get more scared from depraved situations and characters rather than shock moments.

i watched the first couple Hellraiser movies for the first time this past halloween. i loved them. there's something truly terrifying in the notion of a hell dimension where pleasure and pain are inextricably linked and pumped up to 11.

i also really enjoy The Thing. both the 80's version and the new one. a lot of people gave the new one flak, but i thought it was well done. they tied it in with the existing universe, and used it to set up the previous one, while bringing fresh ideas to the table.

Candyman is another favorite. tony todd is goddamned frightening. it's actually the only movie my mother has ever refused to watch, and i can totally understand why.

if i had to pick just one movie as my top horror film, however, it would most certainly be The Mist. For its excellent cast (it was the movie that turned me on to Toby Jones and Marcia Gay Harden), its tragic ending, and how the whole tale is an ode to psychosis and mass panic. i've seen it at least 8 times, and could see it another 20 times and not get tired of it.

 

The Mist is one of my fave films in the last 10 years.

 

The only movie that's ever genuinely freaked me out was "Jacob's Ladder."

 

Thanks for that. I was worried I might not have any horrible nightmarish images stuck in my head today.

 

Right now I'd say my favorite horror film is Let the Right One In. Easily the best vampire film in years.

 

I'm a big King fan, but I often get really cheesed about how they often change the ending (Read Shawshank - IT ENDS WITH THE DAMNED BUS!!! It's about HOPE, not certainty!!! ) . However, the ending of the Mist (the film) was a brilliant twist on the short story's ambiguous one (yeah, it really kicked me in teh teeth). One of the really best adaptations over all, and as a bonus the This Mortal Coil track is suitably

 

Folks, I'm thankful for the responses, but just to clarify, this thread deals with horror ANTHOLOGY series/films.

 

edit: oops wrong thread.

but i'll echo the love for the mist. i was really surprised by how good it was. as for anthologies, i've seen and enjoyed most of the twilight zone, loved creepshow, and i have a soft spot for "tales from the darkside".

 

I love Twin Peaks.

 

The Halloween series is by my favorite... I've seen these films (all of them), made the most jokes with friends & family more than any other horror series. The music (particularly the main theme, though I enjoy the sequel's (1981) main theme more) is excellent/iconic, there are more hits (Halloween, Halloween 4, Halloween 2, Halloween H20, Halloween (Rob Zombie's version)) than misses, and Donald Pleasence's badassery in the series is great.

 

oh, thats my bad. did you wanna go ahead and make a separate thread for standalone stories, or should i do that?

 

Three... Extremes is an excellent asian horror anthology movie with no missteps -- rare for an anthology film (the same cannot be said of its predecessor Three, which is two decent segments sandwiching the utterly incomprehensible middle part). the concept is three (blockbuster, in the case of this second entry) asian directors from three different markets (Hong Kong, South Korea, and Japan, in Three...Extremes).

the first segment is called "Dumplings" and is a tongue in cheek, body-horror take on the perennial western myth of the asian fetus consumption, (i came across a reference to this short while researching the subject for a medical anthropology paper, which was how i found "Three... Extremes"). this segment is fun, gross, and well-executed, but not truly scary to my taste.

the second segment, "Cut" is representative of the korean "revenge" genre (which usually falls somewhere between action, horror and drama), albeit with the horror elements dialed up a bit. this is to be expected, given that revenge films are what made director Park Chan-Wook not only among the most famous directors in the South Korean market, but certainly the most famous Korean director in foreign markets -- if you're enough of a nerd to be posting on a star wars message board, id give a 60% chance you've seen Park's film "Oldboy" ("PRESENTED BY QUENTIN TARANTINO", YOU ******* RUBES!!). "Cut" is about an uber-successful director who finds himself being tormented on a set by an unknown man for unknown reasons (very Park Chan-Wook premise, with a "meta" twist). slightly SAW-esque... but better

the third segment is both the best and the hardest to describe. the film could be arranged either in ascending order of star-power of the directors involved or in ascending order of their ability to **** your dreams up. "Box" is atmospheric and dreamlike and difficult to describe without spoilers so suffice to say the word "box" has never been so foreboding as it will be while you watch this film. directed by Takashi Miike, one of the best known japanese directors both in domestic and foreign markets, (westerners may have heard of audition, ichi the killer, one missed call, and thirteen assassins). his work fits the word "depravity" more closely than any other director i can think of, and i daresay "Box" holds to this trend even better than any of his longform work that ive had the pleasure of viewing

"Three", the predecessor film, is worth a look for the first and ending segments, but i have to recommend fast-forwarding past "Wheel", the terrible thai middle segment. thai films can be confusing in general, but ive seen some good ones. "Wheel" is not one of these. the first segment in Three almost makes it required viewing, however, being a good entry in the work of Kim Ji-Woon, my favorite korean director if i had to pick just one. The Foul King, The Quiet Family, I Saw the Devil, The Good The Bad and The Weird, and especially A Tale of Two Sisters are all amazing films in diverse genres and styles, so take a look at the "Memories" segment of Three, and if you like it, peep any of these other films next

basically watch Three...Extremes and maybe Three as a jumping off point for a love affair with asian (particularly Korean) cinema