Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Count Mecha
House of the Devil was extremely interesting, but only in a visual sense. It really nailed that whole look of those slow burn 70's horror pictures, like Race With The Devil. The cinematography, unnecessary closeups or zoom ins/outs, those tripod tracking shots, they got that on the head. Though unfortunately, they also nailed the shitty narrative most of those movies have too. If you even half way know what these movies are like, you know every beat that's going to come up through the film as you watch it. Oh, this person is going to die here, she's going to do this, she's going to get drugged here, there's going to be a chased through the woods sequence here, amazingly predictable. But like I said, the visuals, are really interesting, so there's that.
|
I've not seen that film but I totally agree about the problem new directors have trying to replicate those low budget 70s horror given how utterly predictable they typically were, albeit in a way that ended up becoming a strange part of their cultish charm. But where I think contemporary audiences are likely to get off on the cheesy zoom ins, I'm not sure they want the leaden paced tedium that often came with it. I've shown friends some what I'd consider classics who've initially enjoyed the cheap look but soon started complaining when the plot wound down to it's standard snail's pace predictability. Whatever the intention, a 70s exploitation film that's non stop thrills and surprises is almost a contradiction in terms.