Obscure but good horror movie

zahra · Apr 4, 2011

Just seen a movie called 'Dolls', loosely based, I would think, on the short story 'The Engelmayer puppets'.

Some yikes acting, but the dolls are pretty scary and the denouement is really horrible.

Just thought I'd share.

Rhoda Nightingale · Apr 5, 2011

Haven't heard of it. Who's the director?

BriMaresh · Apr 5, 2011

I really liked Dark Water, which might be less obscure, but I've never heard anyone else mention it. Not the American re-make, mind, but the original.

donatos · Apr 5, 2011

zahra said:
Just seen a movie called 'Dolls', loosely based, I would think, on the short story 'The Engelmayer puppets'.

Some yikes acting, but the dolls are pretty scary and the denouement is really horrible.

Just thought I'd share.

I loved it as a teen.
Good flick.
This is the one with the two Madonna-looking girls that end up in that big house with the well-meaning but ultimately angered old couple right? Just making sure there's not two movies by the same name.

Rhoda Nightingale · Apr 6, 2011

BriMaresh said:
I really liked Dark Water, which might be less obscure, but I've never heard anyone else mention it. Not the American re-make, mind, but the original.

Haven't seen it yet, but it's on my list. Hideo Nakata seems to like adapting Koji Suzuki, which is all well and good, but as far as J-horror goes there are much better working direcotrs out there. (In my opinion of course.) I liked what he did Ringu, because it was closer to the source material than the American remake, but I personally didn't think it was as effective. (And the books are infinitely better than both, as always.)

zahra · Apr 8, 2011

Rhoda Nightingale said:
Haven't heard of it. Who's the director?

Stuart Gordon.

donatos said:
I loved it as a teen.
Good flick.
This is the one with the two Madonna-looking girls that end up in that big house with the well-meaning but ultimately angered old couple right? Just making sure there's not two movies by the same name.

Yes, that's it!

BriMaresh said:
I really liked Dark Water, which might be less obscure, but I've never heard anyone else mention it. Not the American re-make, mind, but the original.

I loved the original Dark Water, didn't see the remake. Creeped the flipping crap out of me. Really under-rated. I don't know why I keep forgetting it when tallying up good horrors. Bad Zahra.

Rhoda Nightingale · Apr 8, 2011

Sweet--he did one of the Masters of Horror episodes, didn't he?

*consults NetFlix*

Yeah yeah--"Dreams in the Witch House." It was an HP Lovecraft adaptation. Didn't catch that one (it was on my list until I found out a baby gets killed in it, and I can't cross that line myself), but it looked cool.

And this "Dolls" movie appears to be on Instant Streaming at the moment. Thanks for the rec!

muravyets · Apr 8, 2011

He did "The Black Cat" on Masters of Horror, too. Jeffrey Combs playing Edgar Allen Poe. I'm in the midst of watching it on Netflix now. Very good.

grandmastertuck · Apr 22, 2011

Mermaid in a Manhole. Trust me. Just watch it. *shudder*

PEBKAC2 · Apr 26, 2011

I really wanted to see Rare Exports when it was in theaters locally this last holiday season, but I missed it

I heard good things about it and the trailer looked interesting. Has anybody else seen it? If so,what did you think?

jennontheisland · Apr 26, 2011

Where were all of you when I started this thread:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210372

Feidb · Apr 27, 2011

I'll probably get hate mail for this one, but somehow this thread reminded me of a really obscure movie called Liquid Sky. Wasn't really a horror movie, more of a drug punk movie, but I remember it had some alien/horror elements in it. I'll say one thing. I never want to watch it again, not because it scared me, but because it really sucked. Okay, I'm done. Back to REAL icky bug.

Fiona · Apr 27, 2011

Going back to the original question, I think I remember watching Dolls when I was a teenager... it could just be that I was a lot younger at the time, but from what I remember, it was a really creepy movie. Wish I could see it again.

Xaenyth · Apr 27, 2011

I watched that movie when I was a kid. It put me off dolls permanently.

Not that I'd ever admit to playing with them in the first place.

Feidb · Apr 28, 2011

I actually DO remember that movie, come to think of it. Never scared me but it was kind of creepy (to get back on the subject). However, it never creeped me out as much as that Burger King dude does. Now THAT is creepy!

PEBKAC2 · Apr 28, 2011

Feidb said:
I'll probably get hate mail for this one, but somehow this thread reminded me of a really obscure movie called Liquid Sky. Wasn't really a horror movie, more of a drug punk movie, but I remember it had some alien/horror elements in it. I'll say one thing. I never want to watch it again, not because it scared me, but because it really sucked. Okay, I'm done. Back to REAL icky bug.

Haha, I think I saw this. Doesn't some lady keep having sex with different people, and every time she does this alien disintegrates whoever she's having sex with? Something like that?

Feidb · Apr 29, 2011

Haha, I think I saw this. Doesn't some lady keep having sex with different people, and every time she does this alien disintegrates whoever she's having sex with? Something like that?

You may be right on that one. It's been 30 years since I've seen it.

zahra · Apr 30, 2011

Xaenyth said:
Not that I'd ever admit to playing with them in the first place.

The only dolls I like are scary dolls...as you can probably tell from my avvie. I used to own a Victorian doll I called Pomona...I still see her evil little china face in my dreams.

HorrorWriter · May 5, 2011

Zahra,

Yeah, I remember seeing that as a kid. It wigged me out then. That old man was creepy. Late 80's, right? It was cool.

dondomat · May 5, 2011

Laugh all you will, but one of my favorite obscure horror oldies is "The Tingler" with Vincent Price. It's about a creature that attaches itself to people's spines and is fed by intense fear. If one doesn't scream but bottles up one's fear inside, the tingler eventually grows so much it breaks one's spine. Of course there's much drama mixed up, LSD injections, and Price's honey voice.

And also "Island of Terror" with Peter Cushing. Shapless whistling blobs with tentacles will liquify your insides and suck you dryyyy! The horror!!! Beware the terrors lurking in the British Isles!

BriMaresh · May 6, 2011

Is Descent obscure, or does it fall into mainstream? I just re-watched it, and I like the idea (more than the execution, I mean).

Also, The Bad Seed, which should be horror classic, and not obscure at all, except that apparently everyone forgot it existed after The Good Son came out.

donatos · May 6, 2011

Xaenyth said:
I watched that movie when I was a kid. It put me off dolls permanently.

Not that I'd ever admit to playing with them in the first place.

When I was a kid dolls were my phobia. I was so terrorized of them.

shelleyo · May 21, 2011

dondomat said:
and Price's honey voice.

Oh yes, absolutely. I'll watch anything with Vincent Price. Of course, it helped that when I was a kid, the Saturday Night Shocker movie every week, or at least one of them, usually had Price in it. I never missed my weekly dose of horror.

I thought Session 9 was pretty decent. It starred David Caruso, whom I don't much care for, but whose normally wooden style seemed to work pretty well here. He and a couple of his friends/co-workers are a HAZMAT team hired to pull the asbestos out of an abandoned insane asylum. I found it surprisingly creepy when I watched it on video several years ago. Definitely not a fast-paced flick. It's instant viewing right now on Netflix.

I also really enjoyed Fido, which is horror satire, I guess, about the post-zombie apocalypse world. I thought it was great, and much more clever than scary. Shawn of the Dead but with fewer outright laughs and a little more commentary on society. It was instant viewing when I watched it a few years ago, but isn't at the moment.

Shelley

LBlankenship · May 21, 2011

Trivia: Session 9 was filmed at the old insane asylum in Danvers, MA before they tore most of it down... I watched it mostly for that (love urban exploring and old, crumbly real places), but was also pleasantly surprised by the rest of the movie.

/drive-by

zahra · May 22, 2011

Saw a brilliant Aussie horror called 'The Loved Ones' yesterday. I usually avoid the torture stuff, but I took a chance on this, based on its reviews (and the fact that it was on telly, so no effort/money required)

Basically, the premise could have been the springboard for a crap, cliched movie, but rose fantastically above that. A high-school kid is asked to the prom by a girl, refuses her and is kidnapped and tortured by her.

The story was told with sparse dialogue and such well-rounded plotting. I thought at first there was one mis-step, but no: the character whom I could only presume was there simply for dubious 'sex-and-comedy relief' came out with one line of five words towards the end that explained her character beautifully.

The acting was excellent and the whole thing tied together so well.

Obscure but good horror movie

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