CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › All Dark Castle Movies BLOW!
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

All Dark Castle Movies BLOW!

post #1 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:17pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, you heard me! With all of this ridiculous talk about the life or death or horror movies being thrown around these days, I wonder why no one has really tackled the point that THE BIGGEST horror filmmakers around - Dark Castle - has YET to make one good flick. I just watched Ghost Ship this weekend & while there WAS that fantastic first scene - the rest of the flick was a heaping pile of crap that never lived up to the pacing, style, or gore of that first. Frankly, I felt the same thing with the craptacular 13 Ghosts! That scene with the dude being cut in half was genius! For me, nothing else in it lived up to that & I throw House on Haunted Hill into the same bucket (Fuck Fango for throwin' that picture of zombies @ us!). & somebody ask me WHY every D.C. flick has gotta have some bullcrap big CG piece of shit @ the end?!? YAWN YAWN YAWN!
I know tons of you are gonna bite my ass for all of this, but I don't care. Nothing in this world makes you more right than me. Dark Castle has YET to make a flick that is enjoyable beginning till end. I hope they score with this werewolf flick, but I dunno.
I would THINK that Zemeckis & Lord Silver would have better taste in scripts & scares, but I guess not. Either that, or they don't give a shit WHAT they throw their name on.
Reply
post #2 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:23pm
I have to say, I wish they'd persevered with Tales From The Crypt rather than Dark Castle. Nothing under the Dark Castle banner has really grabbed me by the bollocks and pulled, hard.
Reply
post #3 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:27pm
From what I understand, the problem seems to be Steve Beck. He's two for two isn't he ? And Tobe Hooper has to struggle with Taken. Stuart Gordon is lumbered with Spanish underfunding. It's not like there's a shortage of genre talent that wouldn't be well fostered under a studio-kept banner. Just a thought.

Still, three year for year releases of real horror films (none of this psychological drama nonsense) that have made some money. If it leads to greater things, then maybe it'll all seem worthwhile.

Reply
post #4 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:31pm
hm Ghost Ship sucked...13 Ghosts sucked even more.... but i really liked Haunted Hills, the Dr Vannacutt story and especially the beginning were great
Reply
post #5 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:38pm
Well, I'm not gonna bite ya in the arse for your post (that treat is reserved only for people named Butane), I am going to say "calm down there lil doggie!" (God did I just say that...?)

Anywho.

While I did not really like the remake of HOHH all that much, Jeffrey Combs notwithstanding, I did enjoy 13 Ghosts and Ghostship, as fun, popcorn munching horror flicks. Not movies, or films, but flicks, you know?

There were gory bits, spooky bits, fun bits, bits of bits, you get the idea. These are movies to grin at.

I did not once expect any kind of serious scares from any of the DC movies, simply because it's pretty obvious the tone they're all out to set: pulpy horror fun for a modern audience.
Reply
post #6 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:41pm
Quote:
Dan Whitehead:
I have to say, I wish they'd persevered with Tales From The Crypt rather than Dark Castle. Nothing under the Dark Castle banner has really grabbed me by the bollocks and pulled, hard.
And I totally agree. While these DC movies are fun IMHO, they have that sorta wannabe TFTC vibe, but it'd be so much better if they actually were TFTC movies, with the same sadistic bite that made TFTC so excellent.

However, I still likey 13Ghosts and Ghost Ship, so m'yeh
Reply
post #7 of 19
1/21/03 at 1:53pm
I absolutely love "House on Haunted Hill" and consider it one of the best modern gothic horror movies. I've seen it likely over 100 times now and just think it's the bee's knees. That said, yes, "Ghost Ship" (and NO, "Ghost Ship" did NOT make money - the figure they reported as the cost was BULLSHIT - it actually went way over-budget) was not on par with "HOHH" and "Thirteen Ghosts" was just dreck.

So this year, they're spending more money, spending more time on the script and getting a great director, and spending more cash getting A-list actresses. I still have high hopes for Dark Castle because of "HOHH" and the promise that these guys were all the ones behind "Tales From the Crypt."
Reply
post #8 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:01pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Jack. While I do think that HOHH was probably the best of the bunch, the ending really killed it for me (that & thinking there were gonna be zombies in it!). Otherwise, I think you got a good point there. More money doesn't equal a better movie.
& as far as the rest being popcorn horror, I guess so - but that's gotta be one lame audience. Soooo NOT creepy little girls & over-abundance of silly KNB Ghosts running amock I guess just doesn't do it for me.
Reply
post #9 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:06pm
I'm just too big a fan of the original House On Haunted Hill, a movie I thought was smart, funny and deliciously tongue-in-cheek, to ever really embrace the more generic gory horror of the remake. And while Geoffrey Rush is about as close as you're likely to get...he ain't no Vincent.
Reply
post #10 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:07pm
I have to agree with Girlcreeture on this one. While Dark Castle's stuff isn't groundbreaking it still is incredible fun and fluff. You just have to sit back and expect just that and you'll find you're not so let down..
Reply
post #11 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:15pm
It doesn't have to be groundbreaking, but when you consider all the talent and money put into these films - and consider that it's the most high profile horror studio out there - I just think we should be expecting more than just "enjoyable fluff". Are things really so bad that "It was OK" is seen as a compliment?
Reply
post #12 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:24pm
Isn't it a bit of a double-edged sword? On one side, fans of horror movies want to encourage studios to make horror films beyond the teen/slasher sub-genre, and the only way to encourage that is by buying tickets. On the other hand, we buy tickets to movies that are below expectations in most instances and seem to be encouraging the making of mediocre fair. I've watched all of the DC films (except for Ghost Ship, which I will watch despite the less than glowing reviews) simply because I love the genre and want them to make more. Having said that though, the first time I saw 13G, I had fun but I think it was because I was under the influence of ... er stuff. Repeated viewings left me stunned at how bad it is in many facets. I now hope that DC's creative force is like the proverbial room full of monkeys that will one day bang out the horror equivalent of War & Peace.
Reply
post #13 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:30pm
Thread Starter 
Yeah, exactly Dan.
I'll take Demon Knight for instance. That was definitely enjoyable fluff, but it had style, great characters, scares & the like. Still, it remains great enjoyable fluff - but then again, that's what a lot of horror is. You can't take it too seriously (Unless it's the real deal, though we're seeing that less & less these days.). My thing is, these new D.C. flicks are just kind of messes. Because it's popcorn fluff does not excuse it for shotty filmmaking.
Reply
post #14 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:32pm
Well, "it was OK" is better than, like, "HOLY CRAP WHAT A BUNCHA TURD!" to my knowledge, so yeah, it's something of a compliment.

As for DC movies (though I know I'm probably late here ), I haven't seen 13 Ghosts yet (saw the original - dug it quite a bit), but I have seen HOHH and Ghost Ship. HOHH was fun, I dug it, though I do agree, zombies should've been had. Ghost Ship was better than I expectted it, and I dug the whole plot about the evil dude. And while not a specifically horror-themed thing, the ending flashback was really cool. It still felt pretty empty, though. Though, I've seen worse, so...eh.

But, yes, I do agree, they do need some improvement. I'm sure Steve Beck wasn't helping. But, Gothika (or however it's spelled) could be quite interesting.

Then again...of course they could just solve their problem altogether and hire some of us here to do the scripts and directing.
Reply
post #15 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:32pm
I've got to agree with Strax and Smilin' Jack. HOHH is one of my personal faves as well - perhaps one of the better horror films to come out of the '90s in my book. As for 13 Ghosts and Ghost Ship - it's complete schlocky entertainment - nothing more, nothing less, they're like big EC Comic book films, just dumbed down a bit. At least there's a Hollywood-banner production company out there making some high-end, blood-fests. I hope they do pave the way for something bigger and better.

This year's gonna mark an interesting turn for Dark Castle with "Gothika", it'll be interesting to see what they do with the talent and the money (though we know where the money is really going in this case).

Steve Beck may be the source of the problem with the latter two DC films - but believe me, he didn't necessarily have a field day working on those either. I think the guy downright hated both experiences due to the powers-that-be.
Reply
post #16 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:36pm
Oh, and on the "Gothika" note: bring fuckin' Bill Malone back to direct. This guy so needs to be redeemed after "Feardotcom" and I think, with that film, he was a victim of the money men and script. He's truly a twisted visionary and with a strong script, could deliver something mucho nasty. Kind of like a crack-ho who's a bitch to her addiction but is a master of the violin...or something to that effect.

**ready to take a beating with that opinion - BRING IT ON!**
Reply
post #17 of 19
1/21/03 at 2:39pm
Thread Starter 
Has Steve Beck said anything about the editing of these flicks after he finished filming 'em? On 13 Ghosts, I counted 4 different editors on it & I've gotta say that the editing on Ghost Ship was atrocious. Any time I see sped-up shots to make things more spooky or thrilling I wanna punch that damn screen.
Reply
post #18 of 19
1/21/03 at 3:22pm
Quote:
RRotten:
Oh, and on the "Gothika" note: bring fuckin' Bill Malone back to direct. This guy so needs to be redeemed after "Feardotcom" and I think, with that film, he was a victim of the money men and script. He's truly a twisted visionary and with a strong script, could deliver something mucho nasty. Kind of like a crack-ho who's a bitch to her addiction but is a master of the violin...or something to that effect.

**ready to take a beating with that opinion - BRING IT ON!**
Well since they kicked Sebastion (the writer) off the flick. Then they might as well get Bill Malone. He to me so far is one of the most under rated directors. The mans got great ideas.

But can not work with shit. He's not one of those directors that can shine shit into gold. If they leave alone Sebastian's script and bring Malone into direct. Then they will have an awesome flick.

PEACE OUT!
Reply
post #19 of 19
1/21/03 at 4:12pm
HoHH was the only one I cared about

the Mango ghost saving the day was ass though

OH!......Spoiler
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Creature Corner Main
CHUD.com Community › Forums › CREATURE CORNER › Creature Corner Main › All Dark Castle Movies BLOW!