Whedonesque Mobile : Comments on 14248 : Joss talks about his favourite horror movies.

The Descent! Got love! Hurray.

Sounds like Buffy season 8 will be 40 issues long. Hopefully we then go on to season 9.

I wanted him to mention Shaun of the Dead. :-(

UnpluggedCrazy | September 16, 23:25 CET

The Descent! Got love! Hurray.

Joss first (?) mentioned The Descent a fair bit ago. Actually, almost a year ago now.

The One True b!X | September 16, 23:30 CET

SotD is a good (great, in fact) film, but I'm not sure I'd pitch it as pure horror.

The Descent deserves to be seen for dealing with the idea of being alone from all manner of perspectives - being trapped, loosing your friends, family issues. Basically, it's a film about very real fears we have in life, wrapped in the extraordinary context of a horror film. Plus, it cares about it's characters.

I do find myself wondering which ending Joss saw, as I heard the US verrsion has a different ending to the original cut. Original cut basically asks the question of, if you fight through something horrific and end up alone, will you ever be able to deal with that? Will you want to?

I remember coming out of it thinking 'That was horrific. And so very great'.

gossi | September 16, 23:36 CET

I saw the Descent for the first time a few months ago and man was it an effin good movie. I could go on about everything I loved about it. Easily in my top 5 horror films! And maybe the coolest, creepiest monsters. Kinda reminded me of the Turok-Han, but nekkid. They also had great logic behind them.

He probably saw the original ending as that's whats on the DVD.
I guess there is something to be said about missing the theatrical release sometimes.

I couldn't watch the interview for some reason but I'm sure I will get the gist of it from people here who did.

theMidnighter | September 17, 00:19 CET

The Living Dead trilogy's "gut-wrenching horror" -- pun?

Pointy | September 17, 00:22 CET

"Early Carpenter" fills my heart with joy, as both Halloween and The Thing are in my top five films of all time.

The Dark Shape | September 17, 01:13 CET

The Descent's original ending is definitely the more powerful, and more meaningful, one. I also didn't see it until its DVD release, so the original ending is the one I saw. I do remember thinking, during parts of the movie, "Ok, this is what Slaying would be like in the real world... no-time-to-think fast, ugly, brutish, nasty, and violent."

The One True b!X | September 17, 01:52 CET

The original ending is definitely superior, but I still think the U.S. ending works on its own in a slam-bang way. It's hardly happy, but you do lose the emotional resonance.

The Dark Shape | September 17, 01:56 CET

I loved The Descent as well. However, I almost walked out on it during the particularly claustrophobic scenes. They were too real and I suffer from that phobia. I talked myself into staying to see how the film concludes. I'm glad I did because I have one of those brains that would have attempted to complete the film in my head over and over most likely in the form of nightmares... lol. Thankfully my brain was satisfied with the ending it saw (US version).

The Descent was a fantastic horror film that struck a chord with me on a visceral level. I'm sure all horror films hope to achieve this but very few actually do.

Hjermsted | September 17, 01:58 CET

I was really happy that he both mentioned his love for the Descent and his strong distaste for torture porn being passed off as "horror."

[ edited by InevitableTraitor on 2007-09-17 01:55 ]

InevitableTraitor | September 17, 04:55 CET

And to that, I'll say the same thing as always -- the Saw films, at least to this point, have a hell of a lot more going on than torture.

The Dark Shape | September 17, 07:09 CET

Sorry, I don't believe it. I think what the Saw films do is toss a couple of things in so that people might buy that line. Just enough to get away with the spin, but not much else.

The One True b!X | September 17, 08:32 CET

To which I ask, have you actually seen the three Saw films, or just speaking generally? Saw II is easily the most slasher-esque, but it still has things to say.

Personally, I don't find 'torture-porn' any worse than the slasher boom of the 80s, but whatever. 90% of horror films released today are terrible, as they always were.

The Dark Shape | September 17, 09:21 CET

"Torture-porn" no worse than slasher films? I'd call that damning with faint praise. Both are deplorable, IMO. Although I'd give torture-porn a distinct edge in the "disgusting and indefensible" sweeps.

Shey | September 17, 13:01 CET

I really enjoyed The Descent until the monsters showed up. It just sort of lost me. Silly me.

And Saw has nothing more going on than torture, unless you count hilariously bad acting and silly scripting. (I've only seen the first.)

[ edited by UnpluggedCrazy on 2007-09-17 10:57 ]

UnpluggedCrazy | September 17, 13:57 CET

The first Saw - in my opinion, anyway - had more going on than torture. It's not actually a 'bad' movie. The problem, for me, is that torture is the vehicle for everything in the movie. It serves as the entertainment media, and torture should rarely be entertainment. Something like 'The Descent' has graphic horror depicted as horrific for the characters and the audience, which - in my world - is the way it should be.

I saw the first Saw film, but have no interest in the sequels as I got the point. I don't need no torture franchise.

[ edited by gossi on 2007-09-17 13:15 ]

gossi | September 17, 16:15 CET

To which I ask, what torture is there in Saw? Who gets tortured? How do they get tortured?

The Dark Shape | September 17, 19:22 CET

Surely 'Saw' is full of psychological torture that causes people to do horrendous things to themselves and others, often resulting in maiming and/or death. Unless I am misunderstanding something in the intent of the film I would say that counts as torture.

alien lanes | September 17, 19:30 CET

I agree that SotD isn't a horror film in the purest sense. I think Simon Pegg said it best: "Zom-Rom-Com".

Willowy | September 17, 19:51 CET

Yeah, The Descent is great. Maybe not The Ring great, but still really really good. And tremendously unsettling.

Djungelurban | September 17, 20:11 CET

Surely 'Saw' is full of psychological torture that causes people to do horrendous things to themselves and others, often resulting in maiming and/or death. Unless I am misunderstanding something in the intent of the film I would say that counts as torture.

But is psychological torture really that awful? It's a horror movie, and tearing a character down mentally is incredibly powerful on screen.

I just think there's a difference between Saw, which tends to actually value life more than most horror films, and Hostel, which is literally about people being tortured for the amusement of an audience.

The Dark Shape | September 17, 21:03 CET

But is psychological torture really that awful?

If I was being subjected to it I would probably say yes, but in terms of this particular film and the genre it inhabits, probably not within reason.

I can�t agree about �Saw� valuing life, but I don�t think it is an especially unpalatable film, although I can�t pretend to have particularly enjoyed it. It was, at least, vaguely original. I have to agree with an earlier comment and say some of the acting is verging on being risible. I have also seen the second film. I am not unduly squeamish, but there were some scenes I found utterly repulsive in that one. Having said that, generally speaking I think I actually preferred it to the first film, although that might just be because of the extended presence of Dina Meyer, who I like a lot.

alien lanes | September 17, 22:13 CET

It serves as the entertainment media, and torture should rarely be entertainment.

See, this is the thing. Let's say, for the sake of argument even though I don't buy it for a moment, that's there's "something else" going on in the Saw movies.

The people responsible for making these movies *illions of dollars aren't walking out going, "Man, I really like what it was saying about blah blah blah." They're walking out going, "Aw, man that was SICK and AWESOME. When they did X to Y? NASTY! It kicked ass! Let's go see it again!"

That is, ultimately and unavoidably, the "value" of these movies.

The One True b!X | September 18, 04:48 CET

"The Descent" still gives me the willows.

Madhatter | September 18, 19:42 CET

Yay for you theonetruebix, for that concise and insightful comment re. the "value" of these movies. And of course the fans of these films are walking out going "Aw man, that was SICK and AWESOME".
The defense of slasher/torture-porn films that claim the fans are appreciating the "messages" and character development, is growing really tiresome.

Shey | September 19, 09:41 CET

September 16 2007