Do we have any stand out horror movies?

Dublindude69

A friend of mine has gotten me watching some forign horror flicks like Frontiers, Inside, Cold Prey, High Tension and it got me wondering if Ireland has any stand out horror movies.
I tracked down Shrooms and it was awful, Boy Eats Girl was pretty terrible also.
Dead Meat was ok but the really low budget on it made it look bad.
I can't think of anything else, my friend mentioned RawHeadRex but said it was pretty bad and not really Irish.

krudler

Theres that one about the mutant cow..

Funkfield

Legend Of The Bog....

But seriously, no, I don't think Ireland has ever produced any quality horror.

I really enjoyed Isolation, well the first hour anyways, here's my review of it from long ago.

Recently I was involved in a rather illuminating discussion regarding the mixing of horror and comedy. The other individual repeatedly stated that the second a horror film indulges in comedy the entire film loses all merit. Granted he argued there are exceptions to the rule, Shaun of the Dead being the most noticeable but beyond that all horror comedies in his humble opinion were dreadful. While I accepted his views I couldn't agree with him in the slightest, while many horror comedies get bogged down in trying to tie the two genres together there are many horror films which feature a comedic element to them and succeed amazing well. Black Sheep and the Return of the living Dead series both pull it off quite well.

Upon first looks Isolation bears all the appearances of being quite a good horror with comedic elements. The basic premise sets it up perfectly, killer cows on a rural Irish farm. Unlike the superb Black Sheep isolation dispenses with any notion of comedy and plays it straight and works all the better for it.

Young lovers on the run take refuge at a lonely farm where the cash strapped Farmer Dan has allowed genetic experimentation upon his live stock in a bid to boost his income. As this is a horror film things don't exactly go to plan and soon a mutant calf is on the rampage. From here things get grisly.

Isolation is one of the hardest films that I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Some of the images are startling in their brutality. One of the opening scenes shows the forced birth of calf which had me squirming in my seat. From here the real gore begins, various cows are killed in lurid detail. Scene after scene of a gas powered bolt smashing into the cranium of the cows and a few humans. Blood and brain matter spews, coating the walls and characters in crimson.

The direction is something which I had a major problem with. For some reason Billy O’ Brien insists on filming the vast majority of scenes from behind fences and gates giving the film a voyeuristic feeling which sadly doesn't work. Rather than draw the viewer in this artistic tic repeatedly took me out of the action. This is a real shame as the cinematography is superb.

The film falls down in two important areas. Much of the dialogue is in serious need of a polish with large portions of the film having the cast simple pointing out what just happened moments before. Dialogue isn't the films only problem, entire portions of the film are lifted directly from the Alien franchise with one scene being a near shot for shot copy coming out of the dog in Alien 3.

And now we get to the films biggest flaw, the creature looks absolutely woeful and gives proceedings a near comical overtone once we see it. Wisely shown in quick glimpses for the vast duration of the run time O’ Brien unwisely allows the creature far too much screen time in the last 20 minutes. Losing all menace once seen, the comical in appearance creature resembles a bag of bones crudely stuck together by a child 5 minutes before show and tell.

Overall Isolation is a surprisingly entertaining horror with a truly fantastic first hour followed by a ho-hum final 20. Had the creature been in any way decent looking Isolation would have been something special. As it stands the film is an entertaining watch which ends up being quite comical even as it takes its self far too seriously.

johnny_ultimate

I hated Isolation Some brutal imagery perhaps, but the tone felt all wrong (it wasn't anywhere near funny enough) and the downright absurdity of the whole thing made it hard to buy into. Definitely wasn't for me.

So yeah, not a single one I can think of. Ireland + genre movies = rarely successful, alas.

johnny_ultimate

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I hated Isolation Some brutal imagery perhaps, but the tone felt all wrong (it wasn't anywhere near funny enough) and the downright absurdity of the whole thing made it hard to buy into. Definitely wasn't for me.

So yeah, not a single one I can think of. Ireland + genre movies = rarely successful, alas.

I watched it with expectations so low they had hit the ground and after all the negativity I had heard about it was prepared for the worst and while it's not a great film it is rather effective for most of it's running time.

What are we classifying as Irish horror here, we looking at horror films shot/set here or simply ones financed with Irish money.

niallon

Return To Glennascaul

Closest I can think to a good Irish horror film. Nice creepy little short starring Orson Welles.

unreggd

Fair City

rednik

Far and away, absolutely horrorble.:p

Galvasean

If there is one I havent seen it. I've seen some downright awful ones unfortunately. It seems with Irish horror they have to be made funny for some reason. It's almost as if Irish filmmakers don't believe they can make a good 'straight up' horror.

I heard Dead Meat was good, but as the OP says it's low budget is meant to let it down. It has a very low imdb rating, but I dont really pay much heed to those.

D-Generate

For a nation rich with superstitious stories and downright creepy locations we are poor with the horror movies.
Darby O'Gill with the banshee scared the crap out of me as a kid though!

Scariest thing set in Ireland was in a computer game called Clive Barker's: Undying. That would make you **** your pants, I kid you not!

nicowa

D-Generate wrote: »

Darby O'Gill with the banshee scared the crap out of me as a kid though!

I'll second that. Also the black carriage when it comes.

The other individual repeatedly stated that the second a horror film indulges in comedy the entire film loses all merit. Granted he argued there are exceptions to the rule, Shaun of the Dead being the most noticeable

I wouldn't really say that Shaun of the Dead is scary though...

nicowa

nicowa wrote: »

I wouldn't really say that Shaun of the Dead is scary though...

It's still a horror film, remember that a horror film doesn't have to be scary to qualify as horror. There are some great 80s horror films with comedic elements, Fright Night, Re-Animator, Frankenhooker, Basket Case, Castle Freak, while they may not be out-and-out scary they do have a few scares between them.

What I find odd about he genre specifically in films which specialize on gore is how easy it is to find yourself laughing out loud as some poor unfortunate victim has their brains plastered against the walls. Does that qualify them as horror comedy?

Dublindude69

Galvasean wrote: »

I heard Dead Meat was good, but as the OP says it's low budget is meant to let it down. It has a very low imdb rating, but I dont really pay much heed to those.

I thought it could of been good but I don't like the ultra low budget look it has.

Sl!mCharles

Rented shrooms after thinking i heard good things about it.
Jaysus it was terrible. 'The indigenous Irish savages'