| Influx |
| (Risen from the Grave) |
| 03/14/06 06:43 AM |
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Atmosphere
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In the last couple decades there's been a few outstanding horror films that have made the grade and even pushed the envelope. But I can't get over the classics that I grew up with from the 70s and mostly from the 80s. I love the way old 80s film looks. There's something about it. The atmosphere that it creates. New films are so...clean, so sharp. They don't have the same effect at all.
If I was to make a horror film I would want it to have that look. That instant atmosphere.
It's funny because when I was a kid I used to criticize adults for always sticking to the music and movies that they grew up with and not appreciating the new stuff and being able to evolve in their tastes. But it's not about that. You are most influenced by what you see and experience growing up and it's those things that tend to stick with you the most.
Hence the fact Rob Zombie is making movies the way he is.
| GuywiththeGun |
| (Living Dead) |
| 03/14/06 08:38 PM |
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Re: Atmosphere
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Completely agree. I love the "look" of the older movies too. And I'm also realizing there's probably some revisionist history going on there.
The thing that's missing to me though is realism. I think realism is really important in making a straight-out horror movie. That's something Stephen King strives for, and does really well IMO. Make your world as realistic as possible, then throw in the supernatural. That means go easy on the gloss, the super-models, the three story mansions everyone lives in, the product placement, the CGI, etc.
This is something the old classics seemed to "get," which gives them that gritty realistic feel. It's not horror, but The Sopranos does this the best right now, IMO. That show just feels so damn "real." I hope someone steps up with that style of filmmaking in the horror genre sometime.
| Wump |
| (Rotting Corpse) |
| 03/15/06 10:18 AM |
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Re: Atmosphere
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Great topic, for atmosphere is to me the quintessential ingredient to any horror film. In the beginning of Halloween when you see the dark night and brief glimpses of "crazy" people wandering around, the mood is set and that is fear. While I don't expect anyone to re-create Carpenter's masterpiece, the lack of directors with the interest and know-how towards creating that atmosphere is more than lacking, certainly on the main-stream front.
Perhaps that too is why independent films are often more effective, since the grainy effects of shooting in 16 or 32 mm often add a touch of realism. Going back to the original posters comment, the horror films of the 80's had an atmosphere that, like it or not, is gone for good IMO. A director can try all he likes to re-create that atmosphere and look(as Tobe Hooper did with The Toolbox Murders), but I have yet to see one that really makes me feel I am in that time era. Having the movies on VHS helps to preserve some of that special quality that I can't really explain.
I also wish there where more modern directors that could combine the surreal beauty of directors such as with Andrei Tarkovsky and the atmosphere of the early 80's like Douglas Buck does, but there is still hope for the future. I can't think of any reasons in particular right now, but I will get back to you on that.
| GuywiththeGun |
| (Living Dead) |
| 03/15/06 01:18 PM |
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Re: Atmosphere
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"A director can try all he likes to re-create that atmosphere and look(as Tobe Hooper did with The Toolbox Murders), but I have yet to see one that really makes me feel I am in that time era."
Well, that's another problem, IMO. Trying to recreate a time era or setting we saw in other movies. Why recreate something? Of course it's not gonna come off as authentic. It's best to try and make a film realistic with today's times. Pull from real life, not other movies.
As much as I love the old classics, I'm starting to think this obsession with them is part of the problem. For example, do we really need another "throwback to 70's exploitation?" If I see one more car pull up to an old gas station in the opening act of a movie, I'm gonna scream.
| Influx |
| (Risen from the Grave) |
| 03/15/06 09:50 PM |
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Re: Atmosphere
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Quote:
"A director can try all he likes to re-create that atmosphere and look(as Tobe Hooper did with The Toolbox Murders), but I have yet to see one that really makes me feel I am in that time era."
Well, that's another problem, IMO. Trying to recreate a time era or setting we saw in other movies. Why recreate something? Of course it's not gonna come off as authentic. It's best to try and make a film realistic with today's times. Pull from real life, not other movies.
As much as I love the old classics, I'm starting to think this obsession with them is part of the problem. For example, do we really need another "throwback to 70's exploitation?" If I see one more car pull up to an old gas station in the opening act of a movie, I'm gonna scream.
I had no idea Hooper was trying to recreate anything with that stinker (aside from the original movie itself). He did fail miserably.
It's not about recreating themes or genre techniques. It's more about the actual look of it. The best example I can think of right now is Troma's "Tromeo and Juliet". My friend was all excited when he saw this and told me all about it and I couldn't wait to see it. I hadn't seen a Troma film since the ol' Toxie days and I was curious to see how they've changed. The first thing that shocked me when I saw it was that it looked so old. I swear I looks like it came right out of the 80s, it has that kind of cinematography. But the movie itself is obviously much more contemporary. It has both in one. And it works great.
| Slayerd |
| (Recently Deceased) |
| 10/18/07 12:10 PM |
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Re: Atmosphere
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Quote:
In the last couple decades there's been a few outstanding horror films that have made the grade and even pushed the envelope. But I can't get over the classics that I grew up with from the 70s and mostly from the 80s. I love the way old 80s film looks. There's something about it. The atmosphere that it creates. New films are so...clean, so sharp. They don't have the same effect at all.
I agree 100%. Old movies, also from 70's-80's are making with love to making movies. And not just like now, to make a profit on it. They didn't make movies just to make money. But they made movies in short time,because there was no money or no so many. it's hard to explain. I hope you understand what I mean.
| DVDfanatic9 |
| (Risen from the Grave) |
| 12/16/07 07:33 AM |
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Re: Atmosphere
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I think there's a huge problem with the way new horror movies are made.
What I think they should do is switch the positions of the new filmmakers and the old. They give the bigger budgets to the people who end up directing the remakes, and the masters end up getting the Masters of Horror deal.
It's beyond insulting. To the genre and the filmmakers. But I agree with the poster above who said it's because of profits from corporate people and studios. The kids who get the big budgets and mainstream exposure are hacks with no vision, and the masters have to get by with crappy budgets or a 10-day shooting schedule and have to cut it under an hour.
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As for the great atmosphere of yesterday's horror films, I think that's sort of the fault of films like Scream. As much as I love it, the money people always try to copy everything they think that contributed to each big film's success. So, they copy Scream's big orchestral score. Which really is not how a lot of great atmosphere was created - John Carpenter, Goblin, Pino Donaggio, and Fred Myrow and Malcolm Seagrave were kings of music-driven atmosphere and that's why we love and remember the films they scored.
As for atmosphere and mood driven by cinematographers, Mario Bava was a master at that. And nobody today takes lessons from him. Argento and John Carpenter always knew how to shoot a 2.35:1 movie masterfully. And in terms of visual style and such, those filmmakers always used camerawork and pacing to enhance the feel of a movie and make it creepy, spooky, or unsettling.
Almost all horror movies today have the same sense of atmosphere, because all horror movies today seem to copy each other. And there are only maybe 2 or 3 kinds- the ghost story movie which is always PG-13 or PG, the torture film that rips off Se7en's gritty and dark look, and whatever passes today as the horror comedy (things like Slither and Shaun of the Dead).
And atmosphere of yesterday's films was almost always about each filmmaker's distinctive style or influences. They have to stand apart to stand up at all. And all of today's films copy each other. There's no sense of uniqueness.