Blogcritics: Comments on "Forgotten" But Fearsome

Comment by Jim Carruthers

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 16:57:48 EST

Probably one of the scariest movies I've ever seen is "The Rapture" because if it is real to the characters, well, the world ends, and if it isn't real to the characters, they've committed some attrocities. Either way, you got some bad mojo going on.

Comment by Jon Viglione

Fri, 24 Jan 2003 16:44:12 EST

I was 13 when I saw Exorcist III in the theater with a friend of mine and my dad. This is STILL one of my favorite scary movies (probably behind the original Exorcist and The Shining.) This movie was scary, intelligent, and intense, in my opinion. The decapitation scene is absolutely unforgettable (although you actually don't see a decapitation). Also, Brad Douriff (voice of Chucky) as the Gemini killer is awesome...his conversations with George C. Scott and his demonic rants are very memorable. I am skeptical of sequels, but don't hesitate to rent this one, especially if you like the supernatural themes.

Comment by Russ Fischer

Thu, 24 Oct 2002 12:41:47 EDT

I have to disagree. I think Picnic at Hanging Rock is a slow, beautiful, haunting film. It's not a standard horror film by any means, and in fact I'd question the judgement of including it on a list like this one.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Thu, 24 Oct 2002 11:58:46 EDT

Michele and Ed, I will put "Picnic" at the bottom of my list of must-sees.

Comment by Ed Driscoll

Thu, 24 Oct 2002 01:49:47 EDT

Eric, My wife and I saw Picnic at Hanging Rock in San Jose at the artsy Towne 3 theater a couple of years ago, when it was making the rounds before being released on DVD. It's got a great reputation, and neither of us had seen it, but to paraphrase what Michele said above, it not only veered towards tedium, it was dead on target. And we were nearly dead asleep by the time it was over. If I want to see something terrifying, I put on Psycho, The Shining, or anything with Carrot Top in it. Ed

Comment by Russ Fischer

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 14:48:53 EDT

I was one of the two prop people. Duties were split between putting together all of the obvious stuff -- the coin cache materials, making fake asbestos (a lot of which was my own, real growing hair) and the red slime, stuff like that. The other half of it was constant on-set smoke machine usage to diffuse the lighting. Remains one of the things I'm proudest to be associated with. There's a small set of photos of the hospital available in the photo section of my website.

Comment by Eric Olsen

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 14:38:38 EDT

What did you do on "Session 9," Russ?

Comment by Russ Fischer

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 14:35:38 EDT

The Vanishing is an essential film. Simply the best sociopath potraiture out there. Another oft-forgotten one is Don't Look Now, recently released by Paramount on DVD. As for Session 9, I'm always really glad to hear that people like it. We worked really bloody hard on that and got shafted by USA's distribution arm. It's very nice to see it popping up on people's lists. Warms me heart, it does.

Comment by michele

Wed, 23 Oct 2002 11:44:32 EDT

I saw "Picnic at Hanging Rock" when it ran on IFC last year. It was creepy and chilling, but I thought it veered towards tedium at some points. "Session 9" has been running on cable this weekend and my husband made me watch it. Yea, this one is a keeper. Has all the hallmarks of a good scary movie, the kind that leaves you thinking and/or shivering for a few hours after. A lot of people recommend "Wicker Man" as a great creepy movie. I don't. When I was very young, my mother, the freak that she is, took my sister and I to see a movie called "Asylum." (There are quite a few movies with that name, this one came out in the earlyl 70's). It was a trilogy, with stories about psychotic robots, a severed arm seeking revenge and other assorted pyschological creepy stuff that warped my pre-teen mind.