Famous Horrors (Movie Challenge pt. 2)

For part 2 of my challenge, I am going to be focusing on the famous movies that I have never seen before. Researching this topic made me realise that this challenge was not going to be as easy as the previous challenge, in terms of finding the right film to watch. Continue reading to discover my choices for this segment. 

1) Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Believe it or not, I have never watched this 1960s classic prior to starting this movie challenge. I have, of course, watched the other films in the similar vein: The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976) but I have never watched the one that started the trend of devil possession. Rosemary's Baby is a tale of a newlywed couple who move into an apartment in New York. After befriending a young woman, things seem to be going well for Rosemary but her husband is struggling to tie down work as an actor. One night, the couple comes home to the apparent suicide of Rosemary's friend and neighbour and from there they meet the friend's surrogate parents: The Castevets. From that point on, things seem to take a strange turn for Rosemary: she experiences a horrific dream in which a circle of her neighbours, including the Castevets, surround her while a seemingly demonic being rapes her, all the while her husband looks on. In the morning, Rosemary finds out that her husband had sex with her while she was asleep, to ensure they didn't miss the opportunity to get pregnant. Although stunned at this revelation, Rosemary soon finds out she is pregnant. However, Rosemary's joy soon turns into fear as her symptoms do not appear all that human...
I'm not sure if it was the way the story was told or my own skeptism, but as I was watching this film, I started to become convinced that it was not about the spawn of Satan as I'd heard it was, instead a portrayal of a poor woman having a psychotic breakdown during pregnancy. I, of course, knew of the storyline but I did begin doubting myself when towards the end of the film, the revelation of Rosemary's baby still was not shown to the audience. I'm not sure if that was the intention of the filmmaker but I still came away thinking everything that occurred in the film, occurred in Rosemary's head. Still, it was a powerful enough film that has stayed with me since watching it and out of all the films I watched for this segment, has been the most memorable

2) Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Another famous horror that I had never seen before, Night of the Living Dead is considered to be the definitive zombie film. Siblings Barbara and Johnny visit the grave of their father and of course, because it's a horror film, things don't go too smoothly for the pair. They are soon accosted by a zombie, who seemingly comes out of nowhere, killing Johnny in the process. Barbara escapes the (surprisingly) fast zombie and finds shelter in a house in which she comes across a man named Ben and a corpse, name unknown. Ben has been trying to escape and defend himself against the sudden army of zombies that have sprung up and Barbara does not take recent events well, becoming nearly catatonic. Ben comes across a family: Helen and Harry and their daughter Karen. Tom and Judy, a young couple, arrive to the house for safety. From there, each person tries to survive the onslaught of the undead with disastrous results.
Ok, so truth be told: I am not really a fan of zombie films. I figure if you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. Which sums up how I feel about this film. Granted, it is considered to be the undisputed film that started all the tropes one would now see in a modern zombie film and was quite fascinating to see that this film depicted zombies (or 'ghouls') as flesh-eaters, which was initiated by the filmmakers, and for the ghouls to be killed by shotgun or fire. Never before had these tropes been used but are now featured heavily in nearly all films in the zombie genre, and are in fact what defines a zombie film. While I was not necessarily a fan of this horror, I did find it intriguing to see where all the cliches originated from.

3) Audition (1999)


A slightly different famous horror, in that it is fairly modern. I chose this film due to it being one of the most famous of Japanese horrors and I have always wanted to watch a film in this subgenre. Audition is a film about a widower who gets the idea to hold an audition to search for his next wife. Enter Asami Yamazaki, a girl who Shigehiko Aoyama is intrigued by before he even meets her. From reading her essay to why she wants to audition for the supposed film, Shigehiko is quite taken by Asami, even more so once he meets her. From there, they start forming a relationship but things don't quite add up. Despite warnings from his friend, Yasuhisa, who claims to have a bad feeling about her, Shiegehiko falls for Asami. As the relationship develops, the audience can see that Asami is not as shy and stable as she seems to present, with matters escalating towards the end.
This film has been the only film so far in this challenge that has actually made me squirm. The buildup to the conclusion is done in a way that the audience does not know what to expect and the dreamlike sequences keep the audience guessing. The Japanese do not hold back in terms of the violence but yet it is still done in a non-gratuitous way, unlike the recent spate of 'torture porn' films that have cropped up (see Hostel, A Serbian Film, etc). There is definitely a message within Audition and is a lesson learned by the main character with a deadly conclusion. Audition was a lot more subtle than I was expecting and it wasn't until maybe halfway through the film, that it started to present itself as a horror. Up until then, it could be viewed as a romantic drama. That doesn't mean that the pace was slow, instead it kept the audience guessing as to what could possibly happen next. The film was definitely not predictable and did not hold back in terms of the endings for the characters - not everyone in life has a happy ending, which is portrayed successfully here.

 4) Hellraiser (1987)

I decided to choose Hellraiser purely on the infamous character of Pinhead (or Priest, as he's sometimes referred to). I knew the image but I was unaware of anything else related to the film. Hellraiser starts with the character of Frank, purchasing a puzzle box from a dealer. In the safety of his room, Frank solves the puzzle, and is quite literally, pulled apart by the forces of evil. Cut to some time later, Frank's brother Larry and his wife Julia move into the very same house. Nobody knows what has happened to Frank, but since he was known as a sexual deviant, Larry does not seem to care the whereabouts to his brother. His wife, on the otherhand, turns out to have had a secret affair with Frank. Everything seems to be going smoothly for the couple, with the exception of some grumblings from Larry's daughter Kirsty, but of course let's not forget that this is a horror and things don't stay smooth for long. It starts with, during the move-in, a cut Larry experiences leading to dropping blood into the attic floor. This leads, of course, to the resurrection of Frank who unsurprisingly is in a state of disrepair. Soon, Frank has managed to convince Julia to find him victims in order to become fully restored and from then Kirsty soons finds out, leading to all hell breaking loose, pun intended.
I honestly was not expecting Hellraiser to be the film it is. I'm not too sure what I was expecting, probably more scenes depicting hell or an afterlife. It was a lot gorier than I thought it'd be and the effects were quite modern for the 80s, up until a point. Certain effects were comical, not intended, especially towards the end. The film did not hold my attention and I could tell that it was never going to make a long-lasting impression. I did enjoy Frank's departing line, though, probably the only memorable thing about the film.

5) Children of the Corn (1984)

For my last film in this topic, I chose Children of the Corn. Another film I'd heard of but had never delved further. Recently, the film has been cropping (no pun intended) up in horror film discussions, which piqued my interests further. Based on a short story by the Master of Horror himself, Stephen King, the film follows a couple who comes across a small town with a hidden secret: it's run by a cult of children who believe they need to sacrifice adults to 'He Who Walks Behind the Rows'. This results in the town dictated by kids and any adult left lives in fear of not following the rules. The couple, Burt and Vicky, quickly find themselves in danger as soon as they arrive and are left defending themselves against some very determined children.
Children of the Corn does not hesitate when it comes to pacing, the very first scene involves a massacre, which keeps the audience on its toes. The fast pace of each scene ensures the audience is caught unaware and is never left wondering where it could go next. It was nice to watch a horror film from the 80s and not wince at the acting, including that of the children's. It helps that the main characters are played by Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton, two actors who prove they are able to mix the horror and some comedy elements as well, without hamming it up and actually gaining sympathy from the audience. The 90 minute duration also allows no room for boredom and it means the film does not drag. This has definitely been one of my favourites of all films I've watched for part two of my challenge due to the original subject, the acting and the pacing.

This segment of my challenge turned out to be a lot harder than I was expecting. Mostly due to not knowing immediately which films I wanted to watch, and that I have actually seen quite a few famous horrors. I was quite disappointed with some of the films, maybe because there is such a hype surrounding them. If you have any famous horrors you like, or even think are overhyped, share in the comments.

Sources:
Rosemary's Baby
Audition
Hellraiser