This movie is really intriguing. Really enjoyed this. This poster is great, its part 60's James Bond flick meets A Clockwork Orange. I'm not sure how to describe this movie to those who haven't seen it, but I would recommend with the understanding if someone told me they hated it. It feels like it would be a divisive movie.

Yeah, I agree. It's weird that it doesn't have a bigger following. But that era had so many great horror movies I think it just got a bit buried.

Although with Carpenter, while I love most of his horror movies, my absolute faves are stuff like Assault on Precinct 13 and Escape From New York.

checked trailer. looks interesting.

^^ Yeah, I liked High Rise, too. It wasn't as good as other Wheatley movies, though. Hit List and A Field in England for the dramatic side and Sightseers and especially Down Terrace on the comedies are my favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRRvzjkzu2U

yesterday i watched THE WICKER MAN in glorious blu-ray!!!



loved the restoration and upon rewatch i'll have to concur with demonrail that this is no mere "b-movie." this is something else.

like-- a musical, among other things. i found myself laughing because i didn't remember that they'd suddenly break into musical numbers. the pub songs were awesome. the hobbits have nothing on these people.

also, this time it wasn't scary to me AT ALL. if anything it was rather joyous. the only time my wife covered her ears was when the animals started screaming. otherwise, we both sided 100% with the natives.

maybe it's a decade of living among the injuns that made me look at the copper as a fucking intruder. a violent one too-- beating people, breaking doors, threatening everyone's way of life, disrespectful and arrogant. go fuck yourself copper, you got what you deserved.

the other thing is that the acting is mostly spot-on. the villagers are great in their roles. christopher lee as lord summerisle is great. the cop is ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. i mean he's got the stiff face but also the mannerisms make for a great character and his voice is just incredible.

the weak moment for me was at that little bedroom dance at the inn. britt ekland wasn't the strongest actor here, and though she was great to look at it was also easy to see the body double and... that sequence was just a bit meh-- no the significance though, the significance (an the chance to escape maybe as a non-virgin?) was essential, but that was the weakest moment for me, i almost started laughing.

costumes and props were GREAT though! the animal masks, the jars at the pharmacy, the sweets. excellent!

seriously a beautiful movie. joyful even. scary only if you identify with the copper which i did the first time. so... maybe i'm a pagan ha ha ha.

eta: this version contains the explanation of the island's history by summerisle--which i appreciated, as it adds ambiguity to his character. is he 100% or just improving employee morale? i think he's full-into it though he knows the other perspective.

it was different. an off beat comedy. it's about a woman writing a book about a woman making a comic about a man making a movie about the first woman writing the book. i'd say it's worth watching.

ok ok.

your mum got marred in a gazebo?

anyone seen this?

High Rise was pretty bad! Wheatley's a hack and I think I hate him.


In theaters recently:

Blair Witch - Not great
Snowden - Really bad!
White Girl - Pretty good!

I side with Summerisle until the final scene, in part because I don't think Summerisle does believe in the religion but rather the power it secures him. That scene you mention, where he discusses his ancestors with Howie seems pretty clear on that point. So however arrogant, prudish, narrow minded, etc, Howie is, what Summerisle ultimately does to him isn't just barbaric but cruel and cynical. Whereas by the end Howie is at worst just a fool. That's part of its genius for me, the way it manipulates your sympathies, plays games with you the way the islanders play with Howie - something the remake misses entirely. Apects of it remind me a bit of Peter Greenaway films like Drowning by Numbers. That sense of a game within a game. It may not be the scariest horror movie ever, but it's definitely one of the cleverest.

I love the bedroom scene! Even putting aside its significance to the plot it just reinforces the strange atmosphere of the whole thing. for all its faults I'm so glad it's in the film. And what a great song!

But regardless of how we respond to or interpret it, or whichever films we try and compare it with, it is something else. It's its own thing. A genuine one off.

punch! what a great costume.

the thing about the end is i suppose what i "choose to believe" and yes it changed from last time.

the conversation about the ancestors says te grandfather did it for the productivity but the father adopted it and he's happy in it. i like that it's not 100% clearcut. i mean, at the end in that line about sitting among the saints and martyrs summerisle shows he can frame it as a positive in whatever religion, but also i think the connection is established between christianity and its pagan origins by the movie itself. the fact that it begins with the eucharyst (something i missed on my first viewing) is very telling. then the shop lady saying he'll never get the true meaning of sacrifice.

a key moment for me i think that highlights the philosophical chasm between them is at the end when the cop talks about the resurrection. the islanders say he'll be reborn as part of everything (they've been saying this all along and this is very much a part of the plot), but the cop says that he ("i") *as a self* will be reborn in "heaven".

that's the thing where perspectives can't meet-- the christian emphasis on the individual "soul" vs. the pagan embracing of nature as a whole and de-emphasizing and denying of a permanent self. so the act is definitely cruel, but it's only cynical if you take the individual above all else, which we "moderns" do, but the pagans don't--they hunt their prey and they prey is an equal, not "beneath" them. like rowan the hare haaa haaa haaaa. that's great comedy btw. but yes howie is a fool. lord saruman... i'm not sure what to think of him, i can read him in different ways, and i like that.

i haven't seen drowning by numbers. another one for the list!

Fuck, now I've gotta watch it again.
It's been years, but you guys have pumped me up about it now.

Girlfriend's away for the night. Do I dare watch it by myself? I'm pretty sure I'll still find it scary, despite Slambang's renewed view of it as somewhat joyous and/or comic.

For me, The Wicker Man (original now, no point talking about Nic Cage's sad bastard ass) is a bit like Argento's Suspiria. A lot of people find flaws with that film, in the production oopsies and the overdubbing and dated effects, but I can easily set all that shit aside, because when you get right down to it, Suspiria is a truly terrifying fucking movie. It will always scare me, even though I always laugh at that opening scene. Shit gets creepy as fuck in that film, and it's like THE moment when Argento found his voice. Too bad he's lost it so many times over the years.

But Wicker Man is similar (though, of course, completely and utterly different). It might have some seriously corny moments, but the overall effect of the film is powerful and unforgettable. I too think it transcends the "b-movie" label.

But I gues I'll have to watch it again to be 100% sure on all this.

I plan on watching this, but I've gotta say, these stories are just becoming too common. There's the whole Wool/Silo thing in books and soon in movies (class war within a hierarchical post-apocalyptic underground silo where the power's at the top), there's Snowpiercer (class war inside a hierarchical post-apocalyptic train where the power's at the front), there was Judge Dredd (class war inside hierarchical post-apocalyptic tenement building inside a post-apocalyptic hierarchical megacity where the power's ... at the top) and now High Rise... same scenario as Dredd only in a post-apocalyptic hierarchical ab-fab penthouse with apparently some James Bon-type shit going on.

I mean, where does it end? Will it be a post-apoc plane next? A pyramid? A bungalow? Ranch house? School bus?

Where does the post-apocalyptic hierarchical class war NOT happen?
What's funny is the idea began as a "twist" of sorts. A tried and true story telling tool. Keeping everyone in one location for the duration and people will find that interesting. Now it's just a trope. Twist not included.

I guess I should see the movie before I judge. But even if High Rise is totally different, that "it's the end of the world BUT they're all in a big THING together!" angle had been done to death.

Isn't it all just basically Die Hard?

Yes that is key. Althoug Howie's commitment to his faith makes him really no different to the villagers, while I do maintain that Lord Summerisle only uses faith for his own ends, hence the cynicism. But you're right, it isn't 100% clear.

The Eucharist scene is missing from some versions so it looks like you've seen the fullest one available. Did it have the scene where the boy climbs the ladder to Willow's bedroom, while the men in the pub sing that song, 'Gently Johnny'? '
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsjMcEqjZ-c

That's also left out of some versions but is again absolutely key.

haha enjoy rewatching the crap and camp ;)

i watched Scarface last night.. fuck this film is a true masterpiece. the cinematography. the acting.. the writing.. the setting.. the plot.. simply perfection

oh yes yes yes the boy buchanan. ash-- something. that's summerisle's first appearance if i recall, introducing him. and then they have the song with snails twisting around in a way reminiscent of the psychedelic cumshot in "behind the green door" a little bit. just brilliant.

and yes to the way it plays off the commonalities and divergences of mythologies-- it's got the golden bough all over it. okay, i don't blame howie anymore. but i'm glad that at least in this little part of the imaginary world the natives ate the missionary.

it's a beautiful restoration and the blu-ray disc serves it well. it really does look great and there are even demos of the restoration work (the movie used to look purple). there are some brief sequences where the shots are inevitably washed out in portions, but they are not many. i'd send you the info from the disc but i already returned it. which is a bummer because talking about it makes me wanna see it aaaaaaaaaall over again ha ha ha.

It sounds like you saw the 'long' version. There will never be a completely full version because some of the original negatives are lost but that version is the the closest you'll get to it. I have a 4 disc box set that has all the available versions including that one, plus loads of extras like the Mark Kermode documentary and a Christopher Lee commentary. Even the soundtrack CD. If you have a multi region player you should snap it up.

As terrible as i is, you should try and see the sequel, The Wicker Tree. If nothing else it does make explicit the fraudulence of the cult leaders. But as bad as you're imagining it might be, believe me, it's even worse. Put it this way, the Nic Cage remake is better.

haaaaa haaaaa NOOOOOO. no way i'm going to watch the wicker fucking tree. why ruin a perfect thing with horrible cynical sequels? some things are worth ignoring. i hear the tree of knowlege makes poison fruit ha ha ha. i'm staying in paradise. as bjork once said to an interviewer while casually picking her own nose-- "why suffer?"

anyway... the original 1942 "cat people" was just released on bluray. netflix has it, so i'm on the waitlist ("long wait" it says).

meanwhile i have a korean movie called "the isle" which is supposedly one of the most erotic horror movies ever. i'll see about that soon enough....

Now I wanna watch Suspiria too.

Top 10 film of all time that one.

Just taking to myself at this point. La dee da.

Does Hi Rise follow a storytelling trope? It definitely does, I can't deny that, and I can't say why movies like Snowpiercer and Hi-Rise are just now getting their film adaptations when the literary source material (Snowpiercer based off a graphic novel from 1982, Hi-Rise based off a J.G. Ballard novel from 1975) have been around for quite some time. Isn't the post-apocalyptic story itself a reused idea? Isn't any movie's story only as successful as the way its told and presented? If not wouldn't everything that needed to be said about a repressed futuristic society have been said with "Metropolis"?