Movie studios need to seriously stop with the 'you'll never guess the twist ending' because, come on, that's like a dare I cannot pass up. Agree so hard. That gets annoying and old real fast. And even if the twist is interesting, if I know there's a BIG TWIST coming, I feel like I don't get lost in the story as much. Know what I mean?
If you haven't seen the original Tale of Two Sisters (and don't mind reading subtitles), I highly recommend it. The twist is similar, but the atmosphere and cinematography are amazing. Plus, the way it's shot and edited makes it much harder to guess what's going on--at least it did for me. Asian horror likes to play around with time when ghosts are involved; it's very tricky.
Good point about the conflict between old and new religions being a theme in Virgin Spring but not Last House. One theme of several, I'd guess. And you're totally right that things like I Spit On Your Grave and also Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween are better known for creating the Final Girl trope than anything else. The fact that the girls actually fight back/run away was a big deal at the time, but now it's easier to see as just a different form of exploitation.
Ha--I rarely feel validation in twist-ending movies, because I don't usually guess right. And when I do, I feel weirdly disappointed, because I was hoping to be surprised. Possibly because, since I'm not good at guessing, I just assume that if I DID guess right that means the twist was obvious and uncreative, whether that's the case or not. Might be unfair of me, but that's what happens. Which is why I hate spoilers.
Now, some movies can be completely ruined by the twist if the twist makes no goddamn sense. High Tension comes immediately to my mind. Really? Huh. Now, that's the first negative thing I've heard about that movie, which my French horror film nut at the library spoke highly of. It's sort of legendary in French horror, along with Martyrs and Inside. (Random factoid: Blumhouse is remaking Martyrs. That's going to be . . . interesting. I love that production house, but their style is VERY different from French horror, which I'm honestly not a fan of--too intense for me.)
Agreed on your conclusion that twist endings shouldn't be the sole purpose of the marketing or plot. There has to be something else there, or why bother? I like rewatching movies. (FYI, I've rewatched Tale of Two Sisters four times. Always find something new to appreciate.) I know there are people who don't do that, but I don't get it. I mean, apart from time constraints, if you liked it the first time, why wouldn't you watch it again? To me, it'd be like only listening to your favorite song one time.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2015-03-05 04:19 pm (UTC)Agree so hard. That gets annoying and old real fast. And even if the twist is interesting, if I know there's a BIG TWIST coming, I feel like I don't get lost in the story as much. Know what I mean?
If you haven't seen the original Tale of Two Sisters (and don't mind reading subtitles), I highly recommend it. The twist is similar, but the atmosphere and cinematography are amazing. Plus, the way it's shot and edited makes it much harder to guess what's going on--at least it did for me. Asian horror likes to play around with time when ghosts are involved; it's very tricky.
Good point about the conflict between old and new religions being a theme in Virgin Spring but not Last House. One theme of several, I'd guess. And you're totally right that things like I Spit On Your Grave and also Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween are better known for creating the Final Girl trope than anything else. The fact that the girls actually fight back/run away was a big deal at the time, but now it's easier to see as just a different form of exploitation.
Ha--I rarely feel validation in twist-ending movies, because I don't usually guess right. And when I do, I feel weirdly disappointed, because I was hoping to be surprised. Possibly because, since I'm not good at guessing, I just assume that if I DID guess right that means the twist was obvious and uncreative, whether that's the case or not. Might be unfair of me, but that's what happens. Which is why I hate spoilers.
Now, some movies can be completely ruined by the twist if the twist makes no goddamn sense. High Tension comes immediately to my mind.
Really? Huh. Now, that's the first negative thing I've heard about that movie, which my French horror film nut at the library spoke highly of. It's sort of legendary in French horror, along with Martyrs and Inside. (Random factoid: Blumhouse is remaking Martyrs. That's going to be . . . interesting. I love that production house, but their style is VERY different from French horror, which I'm honestly not a fan of--too intense for me.)
Agreed on your conclusion that twist endings shouldn't be the sole purpose of the marketing or plot. There has to be something else there, or why bother? I like rewatching movies. (FYI, I've rewatched Tale of Two Sisters four times. Always find something new to appreciate.) I know there are people who don't do that, but I don't get it. I mean, apart from time constraints, if you liked it the first time, why wouldn't you watch it again? To me, it'd be like only listening to your favorite song one time.