Anyone else see V/H/S (2012)?

H

harmonica44

I saw it at the film festival where I live, and it was highly anticipated, and rated, by other festivals. They really hyped it up at this one.

But I found it be very weirdly disappointing. For one thing the plot made little sense and there were many questions left at the end. It wasn't just me, I talked to the people there afterwords and they all thought the same thing. I also thought the characters were very poorly developed. Most of the guys were immature and not very profound, and booze and pot, made them act like idiots. The women were all a little more mature, and didn't act as idiotic from booze and pot. Seems like they mostly stuck with just those two stereotypes for quite a few of the characters.

There was also an unusual amount of female nudity scenarios in it, to the point where it felt forced, and didn't really add anything. Only a few but still more than the average movie when it comes to showing what is required to emotionally develop the characters.

On the plus side, the special effects were good and scary, although I do not think that that much gore was necessary in some of it, nor, was the overdone gore sound FX.

Anyone seen this movie, and has thoughts on it?
 
I haven’t seen the film yet, but I am keen to. The fact that that the movie was actually produced by ‘Bloody Disgusting’, my go-to source for horror news, has me interested. Plus, one of the segments was directed by Ti West.

Anyway, once again you seem to be questioning another horror movie where you thought the acting was sub-par, the dialogue was too cheesy, the gore was way OTT, too much nudity… This is the case with a lot of horror films produced today and fans of the genre, like myself, love it. Obviously, I can't speak for this exact movie, I may end up hating it, but the fact that it's gotten some pretty good reviews (as well as its fair share of poor reviews), make me think that, as a horror fan, I'll probably enjoy it.

You seem to have a lot of complaints about horror films. Why do you continue to watch them? Do you actually enjoy them? What would you like to see done differently in horror?
 
Well once I am done putting together my current projects, I want to get back into writing a horror, I have the treatment for. So I am trying to get inside most horror fans heads and what they think. In my script the characters are much older than the characters in most of these horrors, around 30-50s age. They are cops and lawyers, so that age is more believable. So would horror fans still like nudity with characters around that age? I am trying to also understand why it's different when it comes to younger characters and why they are handled differently.

Then I can understand the genre better maybe. Horror is meant to scare, and is about survival, but some of the current trends with the characters don't really seem to assist the genre, but I wanna write something to please horror fans of course. I don't mean to complain so much as understand the approaches.
 
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I want to make a movie that is what others want that I can write. I can't copy what I have scene in other movies, so I am going by my ideas but wanting to apply what they want to them. Okay so I need some good scares and situations with some nudity for example, but I got to get a story going as well.
 
harmonica44 said:
…would horror fans still like nudity with characters around that age?
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Probably not.

There’s nothing wrong with doing a horror based around 30-50 year olds, fully clothed or nude, so long as your story warrants it. “Kill List”, for example, has a Satanic cult made up of ‘older’ people, some of whom are shown naked. This, however, is not exploitative, it’s part of the story.

When nudity is used in horror, nine times out of ten it’s an exploitative element. It’s there to get our pulses racing, that’s all. Same with high levels of gore, it’s just there to disgust us. The term “exploitation” isn’t used as much now-a-days, but the horror genre has always been exploitative.

Some horrors, like “Jacobs Ladder” or “Rosemary’s Baby”, have avoided the trap of being exploitative. But, to my mind, they don’t exactly feel like horror… perhaps edging more towards thriller. Based on some of your other posts, and the fact that your story is based around cops and lawyers, I’m thinking you might actually be going down the thriller route too. Is your ‘horror’ more “Seven” than “Scream”?

If I were you, I’d continue watching horror movies, study them, see what makes them tick. Also, make a distinction between ‘horror’ and ‘thriller’ (yes, the lines between genres do get blurred, but they do still exist). Perhaps you could read a couple of books on horror filmmaking? That may help you understand how the genre works.

Good Luck!
 
A) Depends on who the 30-50 year-olds are.
B) If this is the approach you're taking (planning ahead to include the obligatory nude scene), it does sound as if you're going for a "certain kind" of film. And this kind of film is generally shamelessly exploitive and targeted to a younger - and, dare I say it, less discriminating - audience.

If you've got a story you're burning to tell, just tell it, and worry about the demographics later.

If, on the other hand, you just want to make a conventional horror film, you're essentially making a business decision - so why mess with the formula?
 
I guess it's difficult to work within the formula when all the characters don't do anything. The are drunk horny potheads that just sit around and act drunk and horny. There was one horror where they did that for the whole first third. I feel I need something to happen plot wise, and character development wise, or I don't know what to write.

My script is more like Seven meets Scream maybe. A Seven like plot with characters that are older, but with Scream horror scenarios in between.
 
I might scream if I see some of these middle aged actresses nude: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Just keep doing your homework and analysis, but keep it within the last five years. Gotta quit OCDing on contemporary classics.
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horrorperiod.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=slasher.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=supernaturalhorror.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horrortorture.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_films#Sub-genres

At some point you will accumulate a critical mass of perspectives and approaches where you can formulate a decent cookie cutter horror story within any trope.

Start with your own personal fave horror film.
Pop it in the DVD player and sit down with a notebook, write a one line brief for each minute of the film.
Break it down into its act structure: The situation, the first goal, learning 1 2 3 4, first loss, total loss, deux ex machina, build to outcome.
Change the setting, change the principal players, modify the antagonist, construct a dynamic that works.

Instead of SPEED being DIE HARD on a bus have THE SHINING at a lumber yard, HALOWEEN in a trailer park, ALIEN at the town square.

Re middle aged nudity: Opening sequence
51LwcTqrmoL._SX500_.jpg

Ugh! My beloved Marisa. Why can't I have Phil's role? WHY?! WHY?! WHY?!
 
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harmonica44 said:
I guess it's difficult to work within the formula when all the characters don't do anything. The are drunk horny potheads that just sit around and act drunk and horny. There was one horror where they did that for the whole first third. I feel I need something to happen plot wise, and character development wise, or I don't know what to write.

My script is more like Seven meets Scream maybe. A Seven like plot with characters that are older, but with Scream horror scenarios in between.
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I don't understand - are you saying YOUR characters are drunk, horny middle-aged potheads? That YOUR characters don't do anything?

Look, here's the thing. Do you know your story?

Can you tell it? If you were pitching to someone in an elevator, could you recite the story of your main character - beginning, middle, and end - before you got to the first floor?

If not, you've got work to do.

[EDIT: Which movie are you referring to, where they just sat around for the first third?]
 
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No I saying characters in most horror movies I am seeing nowadays, the characters are drunks and don't do much. V/H/S had some. The movie I am referring to where they just sat around was the remake of House of Wax.
 
rayw said:
I might scream if I see some of these middle aged actresses nude: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

Just keep doing your homework and analysis, but keep it within the last five years. Gotta quit OCDing on contemporary classics.
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horrorperiod.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=slasher.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=supernaturalhorror.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
http://boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=horrortorture.htm&sort=date&order=DESC&p=.htm
Click to expand...

Period horror = grownups
Slasher = teens/20-somethings
Supernatural = all over the place
Torture = teens/20-somethings

What does this tell us? Teens and 20-somethings are embarrassingly easy to entertain. (Excepting, of course, any readers of this here forum :-) ).
 
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How come a lot of slashers and tortures do not have older characters? Teens also like James Bond, and Indiana Jones and things like that, and those movies have main characters 30 plus.
 
I can't quite remember "House of Wax", but I don't recall being suprised by the opening act. As far as I remember, it was very much a by-the-numbers horror opening. A lot of horror films open very slowly, with the characters sat around doing very little. The idea of this is lull the viwer into a false sense of security, get to know the characters (love them or hate them), keep everything calm and quiet..... then the shit hits the fan.

And as far as over thirties in horror, the Saw franchise (the archetypal 'torture porn') revolve heavily around older characters. There's a few teens knocking around, but most of the characters are adults.
 
harmonica44 said:
How come a lot of slashers and tortures do not have older characters? Teens also like James Bond, and Indiana Jones and things like that, and those movies have main characters 30 plus.
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Slashers (overly passé) and tortures (beginning to wane in popularity) appeal to an audience WITHOUT more ligitimate concerns.
Mature adults have families and careers to consider.
Teens and early twenties have nothing but themseselves to concern their petty little heads with.

So, who is going to pay to see what?

Teens and 20's just want to look at themselves in the mirror.
They don't want to see their parents, teachers, and employers slashed and tortured.
They wanna see "What would I do?"

Likewise, adult-adults don't want to see stupid kids doing stupid stuff.

Action/adventure and slasher/torture ain't the same thing.
Everybody wants to go on a little adventure, even vicariously.
Few people wanna watch stupid people do stupid things.
 
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I guess so but these movies seem to be marketed to people over 17. No one under 17 was allowed into the showings at the festival, and I can see why from the movies. So not even teens will get to see it, accept for DVD. So right there these slashers are throwing away their target audience when it comes to theater screenings, unless they can count on their parents taking them. But some parents might feel too mature to want to go.

I would probably understand these movies better if the plots added up more in the end. In V/H/S, without giving much away, a creepy character is scene in the background as he walks by, hinting that there is someone in the house, but then is completely forgotten about and never comes back.
 
Well sex and horror go together allot which is why there’s allot of nudity. And it’s mostly teens that get themselves in dumb enough situations for horror settings. Plus you need to think of the target market and the goal of the films


Teens are the target market for most horrors which is why they are at the lead.
 
I can see sex and horror going well together if it's a... maybe a rape situation or something where the horror combines, but in some of these horror movies at the festivals, they keep the two thing completely seperate, which is overall why the sex feels unrelated in the development of the story to me. V/H/S got a 75% on rottentomatoes, which is surprise cause usually critics don't like those kinds of thrillers. I would have liked it a lot better if the plot made overall sense (shrug).
 
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