Demon Director's Cut

Just finished rewatching this masterpiece by Lambert Bav and Daria Argento after like 12 years, and man, it really hit me how much better horror used to be. Honestly? Hollywood is just killing the vibe lately, totally ruining the cult status those killer 80s flicks used to have. The only thing keeping cinema actually interesting right now is the killer stuff coming out of New Zealand and Australia, some great Spanish films, and don't even get me started on the amazing horror we keep getting from Japan.

I think you might be exaggerating a bit 😁 or maybe nostalgia is just clouding your judgment too much 😁 ??

I recently rewatched Demon Unit and I was honestly shocked by how bad it actually was, even though I had such a great memory of it. (I mean, it’s one of those memories where even those old movies by Dolfić felt good 😁 😁, if you know what I mean)

There’s a whole mix here, from City of the Living Dead to full-on zombie flicks, but there's really very little quality to grab onto. It feels like just a bunch of random scenes designed for shock value and trashiness—which, I guess, can be great at times, but other times it's just a total disaster

ps

The second one stuck with me better (whatever that's supposed to mean 😉), and that scene with the TV is probably one of the most effective scenes in horror history 😲

But the third one... man, even back then, the third one was garbage... I wonder how I would feel watching it today

I finally sat down and watched parts one and two, and honestly, they're pretty great. 🙂 I guess thinking law is perspective applies here when you’re judging whether a flick is actually worth your time. They aren't exactly cinematic masterpieces—most of the mainstream crowd would probably hate them—but for those of us who live and breathe horror (for better or worse), they're a blast. You have to love the low-budget effects, the acting, the plot, and the soundtrack all clashing together just right to make it an entertaining ride... 😉

Jose Clark7 said:I checked out parts one and two, and honestly, they're awesome. 🙂 I guess thinking law is perspective when you're just trying to figure out if a movie is actually fun to watch. They aren't exactly masterpieces, so I doubt 99.9% of the mainstream crowd would dig them, but for those of us who appreciate the horror genre—for all its ups and downs—it's a pretty cool watch. I mean, where else are you gonna find such rough effects, acting, plots, and music that somehow all come together to make it interesting? 😉

I think you just eventually hit a point in life where those Italian "hybrids" don't really cut it anymore. 🙂

There seem to be a few different stages for any horror fan:

1.) American mainstream
2.) Italian clones
3.) Asian (especially Japanese) sicknesses
4.) European underground
5.) American underground

😁

quietdriver3, give me a few examples for each point.

By the way, the first one is easily ten times better than the second. The second was just tedious.😳
I haven't seen the third one yet—was that a stroke of bad luck or a lucky escape?

Man, I actually downloaded this the other day😲—watching it tonight

Amanda Edwards78 said:Maybe you could list a few examples for each point?

I'll try to get to that tomorrow, I guess...

though I honestly think Zeljko would probably know way more about this than I do.😉

quietdriver3 said:The life of a horror fan usually moves through a few predictable stages...

1.) The Hollywood mainstream
2.) The Italian clones
3.) The Asian sicknesses, especially from Japan
4.) European underground
5.) American underground

😁

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

Come on, come on... where are those examples? I'm waiting with bated breath! 👋 👋

Amanda Edwards78 said:Come on, come onnnn! Where are the examples? I'm waiting impatiently!!! 👋 👋

1.) Usually you start with stuff like Freddie, Jason, Myers, or Leatherface (basically anything hitting theaters)
2.) Zombie, Cannibal Holocaust, City of the Living Dead, demon, Graveyard Disturbance, and so on.
3.) Ichi, Bio Zombie, Men Behind the Sun, Bible Black, Ebola syndrome... I guess you could also throw in Jackson’s early work since they're "geographically" pretty close. 😉
4.) Faces of Death, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, early Cronenberg stuff, Eraserhead

There are always exceptions, of course. 🙂

My only real issue is that I’ve never been much of a fan of Japanese cinema, so I tend to steer clear of the third tier

Aside from Cronenberg, though, you could probably slot early Craven films like Last House on the Left into that fourth category, along with things like Hopper’s Eaten Alive... there's plenty more where that came from, like Necromancy, Spit on Your Grave, or Thundercrack...

Ethan Perez97 said:I guess my only real issue is that I’ve never really been a fan of Japanese cinema, so I tend to steer clear of that third group.

Otherwise, besides Cronenberg, I’d say Wes Craven’s early stuff like Last House on the Left fits into that fourth category, along with maybe something like Hopper's Eaten Alive... there's plenty more too, like Necromancy, Spit on Your Grave, Thundercrack, and so on.

I'm with you on that... 👍

I totally forgot about Necromancy. 🙂

quietdriver3 said:I'm with you on that... 👍

it slipped my mind to mention Necromantica 🙂

like Dead Next Door, for instance... 🙂

Personally, I’ve never been much of a fan of Japanese culture.
By the way, what exactly makes Eraserhead a horror film?

Amanda Edwards78 said:I’m not really a fan of Japanese cinema myself.
btw, what does Eraserhead even have to do with horror?

everything Lynch does, I guess, falls under psychological horror... 😛

I realized I totally missed the "European underground" category, though I suppose we could probably slot Necromantic and stuff like that in there.

quietdriver3 said:1.) usually you start off with Freddy, Jason, Myers, Leatherface (basically whatever hits theaters)
2.) Zombie, Cannibal Holocaust, City of the Living Dead, Demon, Graveyard Disturbance, stuff like that...
3.) Ichi, Being Zombie, Men Behind the Sun, Bible Black, Ebola Syndrome—honestly, I’d throw in some of Jackson's early work too since they’re "geographically" pretty close 😉
4.) Faces of Death, Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer, early Cronenberg stuff, Eraserhead

always exceptions, obviously 🙂

Man, you missed a ton of stuff: where are the Evil Dead movies and Hellraiser? Where's the slow-burn stuff or Toxic Avenger?
And don't even get me started on those Japanese flicks like Ju-on or Otogoriso... not to mention there's like a hundred Takashi Miike movies out there (gotta mention Audition though)
As for Australian productions, Undead definitely rules the horror/SF scene, and then you've got Canadian Ginger Snaps......etc etc etc 😉 😁

Brian Gonzalez7 said:You missed a ton of stuff: what about Evil Dead or Hellraiser? Or those clunky ones like Toxic Avenger?
And then there's the Japanese stuff like Ju-on, Otogoriso... and I won't even get started on the hundred or so Takashi Miike movies (though I probably should mention Audition)
As for Australian productions, Undead definitely stands out in horror/SF, and then there's the Canadian Ginger Snaps......etc etc etc etc 😉 😁

what am I? An IMDb?

those were just some examples, I guess 😛

Brian Gonzalez7 said:If we're talking about international horror, you've got the Undead from Australia, then those Canadian films like Ginger Snaps... and so on and so forth...😉 😁

The Undead movie is actually a newer thing, more of a parody... and honestly, you can't really compare them to a heavyweight Canadian director like Cronenberg, especially when you look at stuff like Shivers, Brood, Videodrome, or Rabid...

On the other hand, if we're looking at Japanese cinema, the Guinea Pig series is worth noting...

quietdriver3 said:I realized I left out the "European underground" category, where we could easily slot in Necromantic and its peers.

Personally, I think that's the best way to handle it; Americans can never get enough excessive gore, whereas I've just never been a fan of Japanese cinema. 😳

Hamster and Necromancer are honestly a bit much even for my taste, but if we’re talking about movies like that, I’ve gotta throw in one more German mess called Presto