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Post by Toasted Cheese on Aug 23, 2018 9:04:00 GMT
I find little about this film scary, in spite of it being well made. Overly sensàtionalized, when compared to something like Roman Polanski's Rosemary's BabyI have a friend who feels the same way as you, doesn't find it scary, does find it cheesy. I usually don't fall so hard for something that sensitive and perceptive people call commercial, well-made, slick and silly, but there is just something about this movie that terrifies me. Maybe it's kind of like the thing we talked about with Chrissie's death in JAWS. Fear of seeing the victim's fear. (Though I admit the deaths in The Omen were more fantastical and in Jaws, Chrissie's death was very primal) But I was so scared for Father Brennan, and the way he says to Gregory Peck: "I want to help you so Christ will forgive me." (and, like the other poster, how the raging storm suddenly quiets down after the little priest is impaled.) And the look Billie Whitelaw has on her face practically the whole time. And the eerie, ominous "defects" that show up on those photographs. And Lee Remick's vague, creepy intuition that something is not right. And how things just start coming true to where Gregory Peck can no longer ignore what is happening. The movie is just creepy. Ominous is the perfect word. And all those upside down crucifixes that show up throughout, and how the Hortons just pick up and leave one day. I just realized that I've never read the book of Revelations and do not know if that business about 666 being the number of the beast is legit or not. I don't know if it's because the movie is just very clever, or if it's because the movie takes itself so seriously (and it really does take itself very seriously), and Jerry Goldsmith's petrifying score (which does kind of underscore the grim horror of the concept of evil/Satan), but I guess the movie just hits all the right notes for me. And it's odd to me because "The Exorcist" had the opposite effect. There were some things I liked about that movie, like some of the acting and the cool Georgetown house, but not the movie itself plus I didn't find "The Exorcist" to be remotely scary. And unlike "The Omen", I couldn't take it seriously for one moment. It was about as scary as an episode of Scooby-Doo. If you were to compare and contrast these two movies, what would you have to say, Toasted Cheese? In what ways do you think The Omen works better than The Exorcist, and vice versa. I am genuinely curious. More interesting yet, how do you feel Rosemary's Baby compares and contrasts to the other two devil movies? I know RB is one of your all-time favorite movies. "Rosemary's Baby" is a masterpiece, and is definitely in my top ten all time favorite movies, a place it will never leave. This movie is the ultimate realization of paranoia and slowly seeing it all coming true ("This is no dream! This is really happening!"), and Polanski is the master. Well Mr. Dirty, I think you have very succinctly wrapped up why Rosemary's Baby is a masterpiece here. It is magnificent depiction of paranoia, that paradoxically isn't really paranoia. While I don't find RB scary, I do find it very creepy and in a masterful and subtle way that neither The Exorcist or The Omen aren't.
I also think the atmosphere of The Exorcist is perhaps creepier than The Omen, but The Omen at least knew what kind of film it was—a polished b' grader—and while it takes itself seriously, it doesn't appear to have the same lofty ambitions that The Exorcist appears to strive for. The intelligence behind any subtext in The Exorcist, I find to be ultimately hollow, as discussed in a recent thread. It's not really about much at all, or if it is about something, it doesn't exactly know how to say it. It's themes, ultimately are non-themes, because it doesn't appear to take any specific stance against, or for something. The conflict is all on the surface, masked by a false pretense of a deeper sincerity. If Friedkin wanted to tell his story visually, it didn't reflect all that well in the substance that was on offer. It was a watery, not hearty broth.
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Post by dirtypillows on Aug 23, 2018 19:53:32 GMT
I have a friend who feels the same way as you, doesn't find it scary, does find it cheesy. I usually don't fall so hard for something that sensitive and perceptive people call commercial, well-made, slick and silly, but there is just something about this movie that terrifies me. Maybe it's kind of like the thing we talked about with Chrissie's death in JAWS. Fear of seeing the victim's fear. (Though I admit the deaths in The Omen were more fantastical and in Jaws, Chrissie's death was very primal) But I was so scared for Father Brennan, and the way he says to Gregory Peck: "I want to help you so Christ will forgive me." (and, like the other poster, how the raging storm suddenly quiets down after the little priest is impaled.) And the look Billie Whitelaw has on her face practically the whole time. And the eerie, ominous "defects" that show up on those photographs. And Lee Remick's vague, creepy intuition that something is not right. And how things just start coming true to where Gregory Peck can no longer ignore what is happening. The movie is just creepy. Ominous is the perfect word. And all those upside down crucifixes that show up throughout, and how the Hortons just pick up and leave one day. I just realized that I've never read the book of Revelations and do not know if that business about 666 being the number of the beast is legit or not. I don't know if it's because the movie is just very clever, or if it's because the movie takes itself so seriously (and it really does take itself very seriously), and Jerry Goldsmith's petrifying score (which does kind of underscore the grim horror of the concept of evil/Satan), but I guess the movie just hits all the right notes for me. And it's odd to me because "The Exorcist" had the opposite effect. There were some things I liked about that movie, like some of the acting and the cool Georgetown house, but not the movie itself plus I didn't find "The Exorcist" to be remotely scary. And unlike "The Omen", I couldn't take it seriously for one moment. It was about as scary as an episode of Scooby-Doo. If you were to compare and contrast these two movies, what would you have to say, Toasted Cheese? In what ways do you think The Omen works better than The Exorcist, and vice versa. I am genuinely curious. More interesting yet, how do you feel Rosemary's Baby compares and contrasts to the other two devil movies? I know RB is one of your all-time favorite movies. "Rosemary's Baby" is a masterpiece, and is definitely in my top ten all time favorite movies, a place it will never leave. This movie is the ultimate realization of paranoia and slowly seeing it all coming true ("This is no dream! This is really happening!"), and Polanski is the master. Well Mr. Dirty, I think you have very succinctly wrapped up why Rosemary's Baby is a masterpiece here. It is magnificent depiction of paranoia, that paradoxically isn't really paranoia. While I don't find RB scary, I do find it very creepy and in a masterful and subtle way that neither The Exorcist or The Omen aren't.
I also think the atmosphere of The Exorcist is perhaps creepier than The Omen, but The Omen at least knew what kind of film it was—a polished b' grader—and while it takes itself seriously, it doesn't appear to have the same lofty ambitions that The Exorcist appears to strive for. The intelligence behind any subtext in The Exorcist, I find to be ultimately hollow, as discussed in a recent thread. It's not really about much at all, or if it is about something, it doesn't exactly know how to say it. It's themes, ultimately are non-themes, because it doesn't appear to take any specific stance against, or for something. The conflict is all on the surface, masked by a false pretense of a deeper sincerity. If Friedkin wanted to tell his story visually, it didn't reflect all that well in the substance that was on offer. It was a watery, not hearty broth.
You conveyed an essential difference between the two movies so well. Very interesting! "The Omen at least knew what kind of film it was- polished b' grader"I like your "watery, not hearty broth" analogy. There really is nothing solid going on in the movie. And "The Exorcist" is a hollow experience. Maybe that's why I couldn't respond to it. For what the movies set out to do, "The Omen" is far more the successful one. I don't know if you are familiar with the film critic Leslie Halliwell, Toasted Cheese? He was pretty stuffy, the last movie he gave **** was "Bonnie and Clyde", but I thought he had some interesting things to say at times. He gave "The Exorcist" one star and he gave "The Omen" two stars, saying that the latter film was the more entertaining one. I always thought that was an interesting point. |
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Post by Ass_E9 on Aug 25, 2018 2:22:17 GMT
rather than any of the death scenes, the tricycle scene disturbed me.
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Post by dirtypillows on Aug 27, 2018 7:02:51 GMT
rather than any of the death scenes, the tricycle scene disturbed me. The close-up on Billie Whitelaw's face during that part was scary for sure. |
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