The Blair Witch Project's Recent Activity - Spout

Film:The Blair Witch Project

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:23:23 GMT

Title: The Blair Witch Project
Year: 1999
Director: Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez
Plot: Combining Hi-8 video with black-and-white 16 mm film, this film presents a raw look at what can happen when college students forego common sense and enter the world of voodoo and witchcraft. Presented as a straightforward documentary, the film opens with a title card explaining that in 1994, three students went into the Maryland back woods to do a film project on the Blair Witch incidents. These kids were never seen again, and the film you are about to see is from their recovered equipment, found in the woods a year later. The entire movie documents their adventures leading up to their final minutes. The Blair Witch incident, as we initially learn from the local town elders, is an old legend about a group of witches who tortured and killed several children many years ago. Everyone in town knows the story and they're all sketchy on the details. Out in the woods and away from their parked car (and civilization), what starts as a school exercise turns into a nightmare when the three kids lose their map. Forced to spend extra days finding their way out, the kids then start to hear horrific sounds outside their tents in the pitch-black middle of night. They also find strange artifacts from (what can only be) the Blair Witch, still living in the woods. Frightened, they desperately try to find their way out of the woods, with no luck. Slowly these students start to unravel, knowing they have no way of getting out, no food, and it's getting cold. Each night they are confronted with shrieking and sounds so haunting that they are convinced someone is following them, and they quickly begin to fear for their lives. The film premiered in the midnight movie section at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
Times Tagged: 83
Number of Lists: 63
Number of blog posts: 15
Number of discussion threads: 39
SpoutRating: 2

Spout Post: Re:Weekly Theme for May 11: Camping

Thu, 14 May 2009 21:06:15 GMT

Post By: mercurial
Post To: Weekly Theme
Post Date: 5/14/2009 5:06:15 PM
Body: Some really good, and really awful, horror movies involve camping. Friday the 13th was already mentioned. I thought Campire Tales might have been good after seeing that James Marsden, Ron Livingston and Christine Taylor were it in, but alas, it wasn't. The updated House of Wax had its moments: Paris Hilton fit her part in the film perfectly and the creepy town that was constructed was exactly that, but overall it's nothing special. I'm not a fan of Cabin Fever but I will forever remember the disturbing little Kung Fu kid at the end of the film that ran around screaming "Pancakes!" and biting people. The Tripper also had some pretty hilarious moments and was an interesting idea, but was ultimately a let down. Courtney Cox as a PETA Hippie was a nice little cameo. Shrooms was probably worse then having a bad drug experience. I'm a huge fan of The Descent. I'm not however looking forward to the sequel. And the film that many Spout members have filled many a discussion posts over, The Blair Witch Project. I will rehash the tagline that was used during the promotion of the film: it did for the woods and camping what Jaws did for the ocean. I've watched it countless times and still get that anxious feeling of fear and dread each time.

Spout Post: Re:Which of these films that excessively use the word "fuck" or one of its derivatives is your favorite?

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:05:44 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: Movie Polls
Post Date: 4/23/2009 11:05:44 AM
Body: [quote user="Phantasma-gore-ia"] Was there some unknown problem with Pulp Fiction and it's close to 300 uses of the said word? Or is it just me? [/quote] What do you mean by an "unknown problem"?? If you are asking why Pulp Fiction didn't make the poll I can kind of go through my procedure for picking. I found this link on wikipedia first of all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_that_most_frequently_use_the_word_%22fuck%22 According to that link Pulp Fiction uses the word a notable 265 times. But I was looking at movies that used the word the most frequently rather than the most overall. So although the film uses the word nearly as many times as the other movies listed, it has an over 2 and a half hour running time which is fairly long, so the number of uses per minute is 1.72 which doesn't quite measure up to the other films on the list. Some other notable films that actually use the word more requently than Pulp Fiction: Jay and Silent Bob Strike BackMenace II SocietyCasinoSummer of SamThe Big LebowskiThe Boondock SaintsGoodfellasSpunTrue Romance (another penned by Tarantino)American History XThe Blair Witch ProjectBad Santa

Spout Post: Re:Top 5 Overrated Movies

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:21:18 GMT

Post By: Pepper-Ann
Post To: Top 5
Post Date: 2/16/2009 10:21:18 PM
Body: 1. 2001: A Space Odyssey- I'm surprised not to see this one on more lists. I've had several film classes and every single teacher has showed this film. Every one. Now, I'm not a sci-fi fan. So I'm already at a loss. But I just didn't think this was one of the best movies. Yeah, the special effects were great for it's time and it's good as an art film. But it just didn't grab me. One of the things I like in my films, serious ones anyways, is to have some sort of connection with the characters. Whether I hate them or love them, and I just didn't give a crap about Dave. The scenes were too drawn out and there wasn't enough plot for me to pay attention to. Or at least it went over my head all 8 times I've watched it. Again, I love Kubrick. I just couldn't get into this movie. 2. Titanic- Oh boy, not only did this movie make the Celine Dion song that I still hear to this day popular, but it's also the reason people still say "I'M KING OF THE WORLD!" Now, the Titanic is actually a pretty good setting for an emotional movie. But to me, the whole thing played out as Romeo and Juliet on a sinking ship. And boy, was it ever long! Again, romance movies aren't my cup of tea either, so I might be a bit harsh. It won way too many Oscars, and there were some pretty good movies up for best picture that year. Then again, I've always felt the Oscars were a little one-sided. 3. Blair Witch Project- I think a lot of people realized that after it came out though. Maybe "over-hyped" is the word I need to be using for this one and not so much over-rated. 4. No Country for Old Men- Don't hit me. See, that's the sign that a movie is over-rated.That knee-jerk response. Because yeah, I've been attacked for my opinion on this one, and I know I'm going to be the only one here that says it, especially as a film fan. But I still stand strong. I totally understand where the Coens were going, and I liked that they showed another side of things but the ending? Oh man did that ending ever make me mad. And apparently some other guy in the theater who felt like standing up and shouting "The Coen Brothers are a**holes!" Javier's performance was stellar. I wish I could elaborate more about why I feel this, but to be honest, I barely remember most of it except the coin flipping. That's how much I liked it. 5. Shawshank Redemption- If we're going to praise movies based on Stephen King stories, I think that should go to The Green Mile. Either that or Stand By Me which I think is one of the most emotional movies of all time. Fantastic coming of age story and great performances by all the young boys. Before Corey Feldman let everything go to his head and got out of control. And one of my favorite movies ever. Or The Shining, but I think that gets more than enough credit. I didn't see anything in Shawshank Redemption that really stood out to me. And yes, I've read the short story too. Before I saw the movie. And see, everyone saying they don't like Goodfellas, I love movies about the mafia. I don't know why, but I've always been drawn to them. Even the really crappy ones. I like Scorsese movies too.

Spout Post: Blair Witch in Retrospect. Clip of the Day

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:01:34 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 1/29/2009 2:01:34 PM
Body: Celebrating the films of 1999, Rotten Tomatoes kicks off a 12-month, retrospective series of features with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Blair Witch Project. The groundbreaking, record-smashing indie horror flick made its debut at Sundance ten years ago this month, and RT writer Joe Utichi does a great job of reminding us of both the film’s legendary story and its lasting influence. While I left The Blair Witch Project out of SpoutBlog’s five-day series of “Sundance Stories of Yore,” I wouldn’t have paid as great a tribute as Utichi has. Personally, I never appreciated the film in any way, but thanks to this video I’m now thinking differently about the merits of the production. I may never need to watch the actual film again, but I have to give the filmmakers credit for how they went about getting their 20 hours of footage. That’s why it’s even more unfortunate that directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick haven’t done anything noteworthy since. At least Blair Witch actor Joshua Leonard has just made his “comeback” with a starring role in the 2009 Sundance hit Humpday. In the past ten years, he’s had small parts in films like Men of Honor, The Shaggy Dog and Prom Night, and interestingly enough he provided the voice of “Tyler Durden” in a video game version of Fight Club (another landmark film from 1999). But with Humpday, which like Blair Witch utilizes his talent for improvisation, he’s in the foreground once again. Now someone needs to give Heather Donahue and Michael C. Williams their due spotlights so we may continue to celebrate a Blair Witch renaissance. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

Spout Post: 10 Worst Sundance Sensations

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:01:36 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 1/13/2009 5:01:36 PM
Body: Getting ready for the Sundance Film Festival can be very exciting. As we await the event’s Thursday opening, we can’t stop wondering what will be the next big thing. Will this year’s hit be the highly-anticipated Michael Cera project Paper Hearts, or will it be something that we as of yet know nothing about? It’s easy to forget, however, that oftentimes the next big thing is also the next lamest thing. Sundance sensations, those films that are much-buzzed-about, that sell for a lot of money, that go on to be marketed like crazy and ultimately receive Oscar recognition, tend to lend themselves most easily to backlashes. Usually such derision is deserved, as in the case of the following ten films, each of which made a big splash at Sundance despite being bad. 10. Brick (Rian Johnson; 2005 Sundance premiere) When Blade Runner was first released, critics attacked its novelty of combining film noir with science fiction. Yet when Brick arrived in Park City, its similar genre-bending mix of film noir and teen films was welcomed as the most original film in years. In both circumstances, critics were wrong, and while Blade Runner ultimately became a classic, Brick is retrospectively even sillier now than it was when it won a Special Jury Prize “for originality of vision” four years ago. Yes, the film is a fresh idea in theory, but it doesn’t really work on screen, no matter how much you want it to or think it does. It’s simply a novelty gag for film geeks who love noir — while not quite as enjoyable for fans of the teen genre. Is there really anyone who wouldn’t just rather watch a double feature of The Big Sleep and Heathers? 9. Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris; 2006 Sundance premiere) Never mind its impact on the culture of Sundance. The annoying “what will be the next Little Miss Sunshine?” idea was just a substitute for similar questions going back as far as 1990 (“what will be the next sex, lies, and videotape?”). The real problem with LMS is that it’s a decent dysfunctional family comedy that falls apart in the third act. On the positive side, it finally got Alan Arkin an Oscar. But on the more glaring negative side, it also got Abigail Breslin an Oscar nomination. Hardly worthy, also, of its Best Picture nod or its Best Original Screenplay win, the film’s success is the product of a terrific marketing team and moviegoers’ acceptance of cheesy endings — and has nothing to do with the quality of the film. 8. The Brothers McMullen (Edward Burns; 1995 Sundance premiere) While the name Fox Searchlight is now synonymous with marketing the hell out of “indie” sensations like Little Miss Sunshine, Juno and Slumdog Millionaire, the specialty division has been overdoing it with unworthy films since the very first Sundance hit they distributed. The Brothers McMullen is not necessarily a bad film, but it isn’t anything special either. Some say the 1995 fest was the downward turning point for Sundance, whether because it showed us a major “sellout” who wasn’t actually as good as he’d been celebrated as being (Kevin Smith, who disappointed with his sophomore effort, Mallrats) or because a lackluster picture like McMullen won the Grand Jury Prize. And like Smith, Edward Burns ultimately revealed himself to be something of an embarrassment, talent-wise, to the reputation of Sundance alums. 7. Garden State (Zach Braff; 2004 Sundance premiere) 2004 was the year that indie quirkiness got out of hand at Sundance (see #3). Sure, Garden State got us all into The Shins, but it also got filmmakers too into a genre I call “homecoming of age” movies, those banal stories about twenty- and thirty- somethings who revisit their homes due to a dying or dead parent and involve themselves with wacky townies in the process. Any idiot can write a script of this type and fill it with quirky scenery and an obnoxious yet adorable love interest. Sundance must still be getting countless submissions of this kind of film, but unfortunately for the rest of the world’s idiot filmmakers, they aren’t TV stars like Zach Braff. 6. SherryBaby (Laurie Collyer; 2006 Sundance premiere) Sundance has long been a haven for depressing films involving junkies and/or incest, but few have been as overrated as SherryBaby. Once again, it’s all about the star power, as the film might not have been so hyped had Maggie Gyllenhaal not been in the lead. Then again, it might have actually been a better film without her. Grandly over-praised for her performance as the easily played rehabilitating mom, the actress got undeserved kudos simply for being raw and despicable. Her Oscar snub was a relief, at least. 5. Born Into Brothels (Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman; 2004 Sundance premiere) It may have won the documentary Audience Award at Sundance and the documentary Oscar a year later, but that doesn’t excuse Born Into Brothels from being a disgrace to nonfiction filmmaking. One of the most self-satisfying docs ever made, the film will forever be marked by its footage of co-director Zana Briski figuratively patting herself on the back during a fundraiser, with which she sinfully seeks sainthood for involving herself in the lives of her film’s subjects. If documentary was synonymous with charity, Born Into Brothels would indeed be a great film, but documentaries like this should merely be an inspiration to charity, not charity itself. 4. Masked and Anonymous (Larry Charles; 2003 Sundance premiere) One of the most anticipated films of the 2003 festival due to a script co-written by Bob Dylan and an unbelievable cast including Dylan, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Penelope Cruz, Ed Harris, Luke Wilson, Mickey Rourke, Angela Bassett, Jessica Lange and many other big names, the very messy Masked and Anonymous therefore ended up the biggest disappointment of that year. Its worth was later defended and praised by such critics as Jonathan Rosenbaum, who included it in his 2003 Top Ten list, and Salon.com’s Stephanie Zacharek. But most of us are in agreement that it’s one of the biggest wastes of talent in years. 3. Napoleon Dynamite (Jared Hess; 2004 Sundance premiere) Napoleon Dynamite’s inclusion on this list is likely to upset more people than Brick’s, but at least the Brick devotees can defend their fandom with more than just shouts of “It’s funny!” Because the thing is, Napoleon Dynamite is not comedy. It is merely quirky, which is not the same thing as funny. Jared Hess’ pop culture phenomenon does feature some highly original characters and situations, but his execution of these elements is obvious and uninteresting. “Gosh!” is neither a good punchline nor a good catchphrase. 2. The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez; 1999 Sundance premiere) It must be appreciated as much as attacked for its groundbreaking marketing campaign, and in many ways the film itself can be acknowledged for having a terrific premise with an almost perfect realization of that idea. But for the most part, The Blair Witch Project is a basic, amateur and poorly concluded effort that turned the appeal of indie simplicity on its head. Almost a decade earlier, when filmmakers saw Slacker and said “I can do that,” they were mostly mistaken. But The Blair Witch allowed every schmo with a digital camera to declare, “I can do that,” and be relatively correct in his or her statement. It’s okay for indie filmmaking to seem easy, but when it really is that easy, it degrades the truly talented. 1. Boxing Helena (Jennifer Lynch; 1993 Sundance premiere) Cult appeal notwithstanding, Boxing Helena was one of the first really awful movies to be up for Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize. And although in the 17 years since, the festival has been easily criticized for allowing bad films with lots of buzz and/or big name talent to be included in competition, no film has been as unworthy as this. Had it starred original choice Madonna in the part of the titular amputee, Boxing Helena might have really deserved to at least become a midnight movie. However, with its lesser-name casting, it’s barely even good enough for Skinamax programming. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

Spout Post: Re:Is there anything scarier than the imagination?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:33:41 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 1/13/2009 11:33:41 AM
Body: [quote user="Dr_Gor"] [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="seely"] I was thinking about Horror films as I walked to work today, and I came up with a question for you all... Is there anything scarier than your own imagination? I always feel as though too often there are incredibly detailed, graphic potrayals of violence and brutality in horror films for the shock value. Some of the truly scariest horror scenes that I can remember were ones actually left to the viewer's imagination... you don't see exactly what happened, so you're forced to imagine what did. I almost feel as though directors now don't give their audiences enough credit when making these explicitly graphic films. Curious to hear how you all feel about it... [/quote] You are probably right. I found The Blair Witch Project to be one of the scariest movies and there's really hardly anything really shown. Just the fear of main characters. [/quote] This is a good subject. Many of the BEST horror films have NO on-screen gore at all! Blair Witch is an EXCELLENT example, Rizzo! The Haunting and Frankenstien and Dracula and almost everyone of those old Universal Horror Movies! All of the violence takes place JUST off-screen and we are treated to some sound effects to make the illusion complete. Try watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre one more time and you will think that you are watching an edited version of that film! There is virtually NO on-screen gore at all! It is all done with sound effects and your own imagination... < GOR > [/quote] Sometimes it's the suspense that you might see something horrible that is so disturbing. I actually found the very beginning sequence of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to be super freaky because of this. You know how everthing is black and then you see a flash and hear that noise of the flash bulb coming up? It's been a while since I've seen this movie, but I remember for just a moment each time you hear that noise you see a quick flash of something grotesque. Although I don't think anything was actually that bad, somehow you were afraid that with the next flash you were going to see something even worse!

Spout Post: Re:Is there anything scarier than the imagination?

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:49:35 GMT

Post By: Dr_Gor
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 1/12/2009 9:49:35 PM
Body: [quote user="Risselada"] [quote user="seely"] I was thinking about Horror films as I walked to work today, and I came up with a question for you all... Is there anything scarier than your own imagination? I always feel as though too often there are incredibly detailed, graphic potrayals of violence and brutality in horror films for the shock value. Some of the truly scariest horror scenes that I can remember were ones actually left to the viewer's imagination... you don't see exactly what happened, so you're forced to imagine what did. I almost feel as though directors now don't give their audiences enough credit when making these explicitly graphic films. Curious to hear how you all feel about it... [/quote] You are probably right. I found The Blair Witch Project to be one of the scariest movies and there's really hardly anything really shown. Just the fear of main characters. [/quote] This is a good subject. Many of the BEST horror films have NO on-screen gore at all! Blair Witch is an EXCELLENT example, Rizzo! The Haunting and Frankenstien and Dracula and almost everyone of those old Universal Horror Movies! All of the violence takes place JUST off-screen and we are treated to some sound effects to make the illusion complete. Try watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre one more time and you will think that you are watching an edited version of that film! There is virtually NO on-screen gore at all! It is all done with sound effects and your own imagination... < GOR >

Spout Post: Re:Is there anything scarier than the imagination?

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:37:29 GMT

Post By: Risselada
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 1/12/2009 5:37:29 PM
Body: [quote user="seely"] I was thinking about Horror films as I walked to work today, and I came up with a question for you all... Is there anything scarier than your own imagination? I always feel as though too often there are incredibly detailed, graphic potrayals of violence and brutality in horror films for the shock value. Some of the truly scariest horror scenes that I can remember were ones actually left to the viewer's imagination... you don't see exactly what happened, so you're forced to imagine what did. I almost feel as though directors now don't give their audiences enough credit when making these explicitly graphic films. Curious to hear how you all feel about it... [/quote] You are probably right. I found The Blair Witch Project to be one of the scariest movies and there's really hardly anything really shown. Just the fear of main characters.

Spout Post: Re:Top 25 Horror Films of the Modern Era?

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:37:51 GMT

Post By: divinemsjunebug
Post To: HORROR MOVIES 101
Post Date: 12/24/2008 10:37:51 PM
Body: I think it's a pretty good modern movie list overall, I'd move some around. I definately think The Descent is a good choice for #1 - that movie was great. I don't think Blair Witch Project should be #2 either but I would keep it in the top 10. I can't believe Eyes Wide Shut is on the list. There are a few others I am questioning too, but for the most part, most of them are my favorite Modern movies. [quote user="rjsprague"] What do you folks think of this list? 1. The Descent (2005) dir: Neil Marshall2. The Blair Witch Project (1999) dir: Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez3. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) dir: Jonathan Demme4. The Ring (2002) dir: Gore Verbinski5. Scream (1996) dir: Wes Craven6. The Mist (2007) dir: Frank Darabont7. 28 Days Later (2002) dir: Danny Boyle8. Braindead (Dead Alive) (1992) dir: Peter Jackson9. Inside (2007) dir: Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury10. Shaun of the Dead (2004) dir: Edgar Wright11. Saw (2004) dir: James Wan12. [REC] (2007) dir: Jaume Balaguero & Paco Plaza13. Audition (1999) dir: Takashi Miike14. Ginger Snaps (2000) dir: John Fawcett15. American Psycho (2000) dir: Mary Harron16. Session 9 (2001) dir: Brad Anderson17. Dawn of the Dead (2004) dir: Zack Snyder18. Army of Darkness (1993) dir: Sam Raimi19. Dog Soldiers (2002) dir: Neil Marshall20. Cabin Fever (2002) dir: Eli Roth21. Let the Right One In (2008) dir: Tomas Alfredson22. Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) dir: Francis Ford Coppola23. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) dir: Stanley Kubrick24. Halloween: 20 Years Later (1998) dir: Steve Miner25. Dellamorte Dellamore (Cemetery Man) (1994) dir: Michele Soavi (from thevaultofhorror.blogspot.com) Personally I'd probably remove the Blair Witch project, but I'm a horror noob. :) [/quote]

Spout Post: Horrorigins: A Brief History of the Horror Movie

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 21:00:30 GMT

Post By: SpoutBlog
Post To: SpoutBlog on spout.com
Post Date: 10/31/2008 5:00:30 PM
Body: It’s Halloween, a time when sales of candy and rentals of horror movies spike off the charts. Candy has been around since the time of the ancient Egyptians, but the horror film is barely 100 years old. The genre is enjoying a resurgence in popularity over the past several years: right now you’ve got Saw V in wide release, Let The Right One In in limited theaters, the vampy teen Twilight coming up in a few weeks and True Blood making waves on HBO. Studios can’t seem to go more than a few months without releasing some sort of a zombie flick, and vampires are coming back into their own. But what was the first real horror film? Before movies existed, people had to get their scares from books and the local newspaper, but now you can just switch on cable and tune into NBC’s Chiller channel for instant scares. Check out a brief history of the horror movie after the break, and look just how far we’ve come. Georges Méliès is best known for his short film A Trip To The Moon, with the iconic image of the Man in the Moon with spaceship embedded in his eye like a bullet. He was born in France in 1861 and eventually became a successful stage magician, although he found more fame (but no fortune) as a filmmaker in the then newfangled art of cinema after seeing a demonstration by the Lumiere brothers in 1895. For the next several years he created some of the first films to feature special effects, especially using the “stop-trick” of stopping the camera and substituing something into the frame before resuming filming. Just watch any episode of Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie to see this used ad infinitum. One of Méliès’ first films was Le Manoir du Diable, or The House of the Devil, which is considered to be the world’s first horror film. It’s two minutes long, extremely grainy, and not scary at all by today’s standards. It premiered on Christmas Eve in 1896, and was the first in a string of many short horror films, including Le Diable Noir, Le Monstre (check out the dancing skeletons!), and Le Chaudron Infernal. By the early 1900s, Germany was producing full-length feature horror films with Der Golem in 1913 (remade in 1920), as one of the first Frankenstein-esque films, Das Kabinett des Doktor Caligari in 1919, which influenced the look and feel of the classic horror films of the 1930s, and Nosferatu in 1922, which was one of the first enduring vampire stories. These movies eventually made their way to Hollywood, and by the 1930s Universal was making many of the horror films which are considered the “Universal Classic Horror” movies. Films like Dracula, The Mummy, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame were just some of the films that terrified audiences and launch the careers of actors like Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff. These movies persisted through the 1950s, although by then the fear of the atomic bomb had given rise to movies about irradiated creatures terrorizing mankind, like Them! and Tarantula. The possibility of aliens invading the Earth and having their way with humans was also a common theme in horror films, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to It Came From Outer Space. The late 1950s also featured often gorier films, a trend that continued heavily through the 1960s. Hammer Films seized on the new obsession with gore and churned out low budget bloodfests often starring Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee. This period was also when Vincent Price rose to popularity, having starred in the very popular House of Wax in 1953, he went on to star in a series of low budger horror flicks for Roger Corman, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Although films that were based in gore continued to be made through the 1960s and 70s, they were considered camp and didn’t break into the top ten. In 1960 Alfred Hitchcock turned the tables to show that it was often unhinged people who were more terrifying than ever with Psycho. Gone were the supernatural creatures, the irradiated monsters, and so on. But by now horror had become splintered and fractured with many different subgenres and categories. The late 1960s through the 1970s saw popular horror movies like Rosemary’s Baby, Jaws, The Exorcist, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. By the 1980s, Jason, Freddy, and Michael were the top trio of movie monsters, who spawned multiple sequels that were all extremely formulaic and repetitive, and by the 1990s the fervor for horror movies had died down. Although in the early 2000s, horror movies became extremely popular again with supernatural movies like 1999’s The Blair Witch Project jumpstarting the craze that went on to movies like and The Grudge and The Ring, and “torture-porn” began filling seats with people begging to be grossed-out in movies like Saw and Hostel. We’ve come a long way since Georges Méliès flickering short films entertained audiences, and he could probably have never imagined the kind of horror movies people would be watch today. But he’d probably be fascinated by the special effects, and making inventive scary movies of his own. Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

Spout Tag:murder

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:42:29 GMT

murder
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Spout Tag:death

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:27:13 GMT

death
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Spout Tag:documentary

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:11:06 GMT

documentary
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Spout Tag:horror

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:01:29 GMT

horror
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Spout Tag:overrated

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:37:37 GMT

overrated
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Spout Tag:scary

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:30:07 GMT

scary
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Spout Tag:film

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:35:41 GMT

film
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Spout Tag:witch

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:33:01 GMT

witch
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Spout Tag:lost

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:36:46 GMT

lost
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Spout Tag:sucked

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 20:58:18 GMT

sucked
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Spout Tag:realistic

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:29:30 GMT

realistic
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Spout Tag:legend

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 05:18:09 GMT

legend
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Spout Tag:woods

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:47:46 GMT

woods
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Spout Tag:camping

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:09:23 GMT

camping
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Spout Tag:filmmaker

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:12:17 GMT

filmmaker
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