It would be helpful to mention whether or not these movies are streaming as The Endless is not on US Netflix for streaming
Damn, the sun is pretty creepy when you think about it.
No wonder it's the inspiration for various SCP:
It also makes life on Earth possible so..
i'm wondering this too. it's not on netflix/amazon/google. looks like i need to wait for the blu ray to come out next month.
can't find the endless but i watched coherence on netflix. not sure if it's still there.where are you guys watching these movies "the endless" and "coherence".
anywhere to stream them?
Just watched Coherence, and interestingly had the exact opposite reaction, hah.I watched Coherence, neat ending but overall not a fan. They really shouldn't have tried to pseudo-scientifically explain what was happening.
Also they talk about our models of physics breaking down in the pressures of the sun (and there's some evidence of this happening towards the end), which kind of mirrors Lovecraftian alien cities that use different models of geometry that don't make sense to human eyes.Yeah, I rewatched Sunshine last night and it hits so many right notes. Even a lot of the imagery seems more reminiscent of the kind of stuff you'd recall from Lovecraftian or horror fiction
Like these kinds of shots reminded me of The Void, especially once you consider the hypnotic almost religious pull the sun has Searle and the captain
A hostile uncaring environment, less like the exterior of a ship and more like the surface of some alien landscape, weird spacesuits that look more like oppressive diving suits to explore the abyss rather than the traditional outfits
The overwhelming howling force of the sun, with Searle madly yelling "what do you see" as if witnessing the unfiltered solar light as you're being consumed will reveal some unknown truths
Don't forget the sun invading their nightmares with shared dreams of falling toward its surface among at least two of the crew, or the movie diving head-long into "worshiping this cosmic entity changes you" territory by showing through Pinbacker what could have happened to Searle if he continued on his path of insane solar acolyte that has bathed in the sun's light
Yeah, I rewatched Sunshine last night and it hits so many right notes. Even a lot of the imagery seems more reminiscent of the kind of stuff you'd recall from Lovecraftian or horror fiction
Like these kinds of shots reminded me of The Void, especially once you consider the hypnotic almost religious pull the sun has Searle and the captain
A hostile uncaring environment, less like the exterior of a ship and more like the surface of some alien landscape, weird spacesuits that look more like oppressive diving suits to explore the abyss rather than the traditional outfits
The overwhelming howling force of the sun, with Searle madly yelling "what do you see" as if witnessing the unfiltered solar light as you're being consumed will reveal some unknown truths
Don't forget the sun invading their nightmares with shared dreams of falling toward its surface among at least two of the crew, or the movie diving head-long into "worshiping this cosmic entity changes you" territory by showing through Pinbacker what could have happened to Searle if he continued on his path of insane solar acolyte that has bathed in the sun's light
It's literally not a horror movie dude. If somebody asked you to recommend them a cosmic horror movie, would you seriously answer Men in Black?
I think Alien can squeeze by if you ignore the franchise information as a whole. Forget Aliens. Forget the queen. Forget calling them xenomorohs. Good god forget Covenant. Just view the first film as a separate standalone piece. A singular unknown being attacking a group of people in space.
I saw some people remark that the crew knew what the creature was but that couldn't be farther from the truth. The whole terror is that they don't know what it is, they don't know where it originated, and they don't understand it. The creature changes shape rapidly. So rapidly that it's actually appalling to the crew. They were not expecting something the size of a rat would be a 7 feet tall killing machine in only a couple hours. And no, that does not follow physics as we comprehend it in the natural world. Creatures that metamorphosize do not quadruple in size and don't do it that quickly. The alien is literally supposed to defy everything natural.
As for no one going insane, just look at Lambert. Her mind is broken by the end. She might not be going whacko cartoon crazy, but there's no way she would be able to go back to go back to a healthy, sound mind had her fate allowed that. She is frozen in fear staring at the face of something she does not comprehend.
I mean the it may be not a cosmic horror movie (not entirely sure about that though, considering there seem to be so many plenty otherworldly power in MiB that can eradicate all life on earth should they wish to), but the series does imo have elements of cosmic horror in it, especially considering in the movies our universe is such a very tiny insignificant speck it fits into a locker of a much larger universe. Scary stuff.
Watch Men in Black, then compare that to an actual cosmic horror media like Nameless or The Color Out of Space or Through the Mouth of Madness. Conceptually, they have the same general premise, but the execution is wildly different, and it's like that intentionally.
The aliens in MiB, despite being so much bigger (more "cartoonishly big" than "incomprehensibly huge," really) and more powerful and more ancient than us, but they act exactly like humans (even the giant alien in the end plays marbles and shit) and have power structures that resemble human governments so explicitly that we can assume the comparison is thoroughly deliberate. At its core the movie is very down to earth and the aliens are just Humans But Bigger.
It's the same reason people don't consider stuff like Marvel comics or Rick and Morty to be cosmic horror, even though they also tend to feature lots of scary inscrutable cosmic things.
And then they destroy all of that atmosphere with a generic serial killer villain in the end.
Up to today I still can't figure out why they decided to go that route, such a baffling decision that lack common sense whatsoever.
Gotta have something around that can worship you and sacrifice others of its kind to you.
I used to feel that third act was a big out-of-nowhere tonal whiplash but recent rewatches made me realize that those clues and hints where there from scene one. Like the first scene is Searle enrapt by the sun, and the next scene is him talking about how it's almost feels religious to let the light absorb you. Throughout the movie, the sun is presented as the overwhelming entity that invaded their dreams and drives those that gaze into its light to worship it almost religiously. Like you said, Searle is yelling into his mic at the burning-to-a-crisp Captain "what do you see" as if the sun is some cosmic horror entity and the captain is finally witnessing its truthI don't quite see how it's totally out of place when you consider what the movie mentioned in quite a few places. It wasn't just a typical sci-fi "things go bad in a realistic way" sort of movie from the start, there were implications that something else was going on to an extent. When you take into account Searle and his obsession with the suns light, desperately asking "What do you see?" at the Captains death, the Sun haunting their dreams etc it isn't quite so suddenly just "Here's a horror movie villain for no reason!", there were themes of worship of the sun or it having a negative affect on the crew at several points of the movie. They were subtle, but they were still there.
I used to feel that third act was a big out-of-nowhere tonal whiplash but recent rewatches made me realize that those clues and hints where there from scene one. Like the first scene is Searle enrapt by the sun, and the next scene is him talking about how it's almost feels religious to let the light absorb you. Throughout the movie, the sun is presented as the overwhelming entity that invaded their dreams and drives those that gaze into its light to worship it almost religiously. Like you said, Searle is yelling into his mic at the burning-to-a-crisp Captain "what do you see" as if the sun is some cosmic horror entity and the captain is finally witnessing its truth
That the sun drove the other captain to religiously worship insanity that wants to make sure humans don't interfere with the sun is the logical conclusion to what we see happen to other crew members throughout the film. In line with the cosmic horror influences, much like a coverted cultist in Lovecraftian fiction, Pinbacker has become marked and changed by his interactions with his flaming god.
I noticed this as well. Pinbacker is presented in very inhuman ways that make it seem as if his reverence of the sun has distorted him. Our first glimpse is the jagged glitched video log. Then later in the viewing room, he's this gnarled desiccated silhouette that looks like a Slenderman-esque entity or an alien being, like something born from the light. His POV, and anytime we ever see him from other character's perspective, is through this wavering filter of eyes burned out by sunlight, as if his very presence is distorting realityI'm re-watching the movie as i write this so i can keep track of what goes on, but yeah, there are quite a lot of themes that allude to Pinbacker, the movie having cosmic horror elements and a whole theme revolving this all being part of the unknown throughout the movie:
A lot of people seem to think the ending was just slapped into the movie randomly, but it's just a continuation of what was already was set up; viewing the sun with a sort of God-like reverence combined with this all being a place where no one knows what's even possible.
- The very first scene on the ship is Searle sitting in the observation room at quite intense light and being captivated by it, only to seem somewhat pleased when the computer says it's only 2% full sunlight and asks for 4%. He then gets a smile on his face when he's told he can survive 3.1% instead, immediately decides to set it for that and can be seen even more awestruck and engrossed in it even as he tries to physically shield/defend himself from the brightness and intensity of it. Also included is ominous music in that scene.
- The next scene is then him trying to describe the overwhelming feeling of bathing in sunlight in that way to the rest of the crew and how, in comparison to total darkness where you and the darkness are seperate entities (because Darkness is the absence of something, you aren't), the sunlight in the opposite way completes you and "becomes you".
- A scene shortly after involves Kaneda subjecting himself to intense sunlight as well, eagerly staring towards the sun and being somewhat dazed by it - he either ignores or doesn't notice the Botanist woman talking to him for quite a few seconds.
- Kaneda watches one of the messages from Pinbacker onboard Icarus 1 before it went wrong, and both the scene and Kaneda himself picks up on the part about Pinbacker thinking that an asteroid strike damaging the Icarus 1 was "beatiful", with a somewhat insane look in his eye (the movie zooms in to focus on them).
- The movie itself contains a theme of expendable humans being sent into the literal unknown, to fulfill a mission that their entire species depends on, to re-awaken a star based on science no human can verify (the simulation of the delivery becomes uncertain and pretty much guesswork after a certain paint). Kappa says "Space and time will become smeared together, everything will distort, everything will be unquantifiable" - it's a point where science/physics, gravity and time themselves no longer have any relevance or meaning. It's a point no human has ever reached, or likely will ever reach again.
- The payload itself required them to mine all of the planet's fissile materials. It's their literal last hope and chance with no going back. Humanity mined the planet dry of that material just to get a chance of doing something to a dying entity that they are incomprehensibly insignificant to.
- Scene with Searle once again eagerly starting into the sun, this time with thicker shielded goggles rather than just sunglasses, is intermixed with Kappa's dream/nightmare of the sun
- Cappa dreams of falling into the sun. Another character immediately guesses he's dreaming of "the surface of the sun" and that it's "only dream i ever have. Every time i shut my eyes it's always the same".
- Pinbacker has very fanatical worshipper/cultist like lines. "Are you an Angel? Has the time come?", "Who am i? At the end of time, a moment will come when just one man remains. Then the moment will pass", "The last man, alone with God. Am i that man?", "Not your God. Mine."
I do wonder if the whole blurry, unfocused, Supernatural-like Pinbacker view is actually supposed to be happening in-universe as well, or if it's just something like that meant for us as the viewer only. Is he actually supernatural, or is that just for the sake of movie editing and he's really just an insane burnt guy? With him surviving unfiltered full sunlight i'd assume the former but i'm not sure.
I noticed this as well. Pinbacker is presented in very inhuman ways that make it seem as if his reverence of the sun has distorted him. Our first glimpse is the jagged glitched video log. Then later in the viewing room, he's this gnarled desiccated silhouette that looks like a Slenderman-esque entity or an alien being, like something born from the light. His POV, and anytime we ever see him from other character's perspective, is through this wavering filter of eyes burned out by sunlight, as if his very presence is distorting reality
Not quite sure this is going to be Cosmic Horror but I do get some vibes of such from this upcoming film by the director of Beyond the Black Rainbow. It stars Nic Cage doing his absolute best Cage while wielding a giant crazy looking axe, fighting people with chainsaws and apparently dealing with cults and 4 wheeler riding cenobites.
The book certainly does, both adaptations leave all the cosmic-y stuff out unfortunately.Serious question, but does IT count as cosmic horror?
IT is a eternal entity that originated in a void containing and surrounding the Universe, so it's not from this world. Cosmic horror right?
The book certainly does, both adaptations leave all the cosmic-y stuff out unfortunately.
Not quite sure this is going to be Cosmic Horror but I do get some vibes of such from this upcoming film by the director of Beyond the Black Rainbow. It stars Nic Cage doing his absolute best Cage while wielding a giant crazy looking axe, fighting people with chainsaws and apparently dealing with cults and 4 wheeler riding cenobites.
The Endless was excellent but it was a direct sequel to Resolution (2013) which is also "cosmic horror" and highly recommended. I watched them back to back and The Endless was basically an explanation for the mindfuck ending of Resolution.
I hear this so often, but I just don't see it. I understand Paul W.S. Anderson wanted there to be some homages, but you actually see the inside of the puzzle box in the Hellraiser series at some point. The chaos dimension in EH is only described, which, combined with everything else that goes on on the ship, makes the sense of dread about it that much stronger. I don't really believe final form Weir to be much of a Pinhead clone/knockoff either.It's basically just Hellraiser in space but damn if it isn't effective regardless of its derivative nature.
Now you tell us. -_- :PThe Endless was excellent but it was a direct sequel to Resolution (2013) which is also "cosmic horror" and highly recommended. I watched them back to back and The Endless was basically an explanation for the mindfuck ending of Resolution.
I disagree.Alien isn't a cosmic horror movie. Even if you discount the new ones and see it on its own, it's still not a cosmic horror movie.
Heck Event Horizon is a much more appropriate example of cosmic horror, since the "dimension" the ship came from is pretty much an unexplainable eldritch location.
At the time the OP was posted it was several months before Annihilation was released...It has no doubt been mentioned, but leaving Annhilation out of the OP, which is thematically one of the truest forms of Cosmic Horror is cinema, while including surface-level trash like The Void is fucking shameful.
Oh shit i didn't even look at the date.At the time the OP was posted it was several months before Annihilation was released...
Don't forget Dagon.But while we're on the schlock train we should absolutely be talking about the hilarious and wonderful Stewart Gordon films Re-Animator and From Beyond.
The movie? Eh.... I enjoy it for striking imagery, but it's not an easy thing to watch which is why its hard to recommend, nor is it very much like Roadside Picnic that it's based on (imo). Annihilation could've benefited from better atmospheric cinematography and a different lead though. Also while I enjoyed Annihilation, the book is also much ebtter at conveying some things (though not as good in other aspects).
I do lile both films very much though.
Dr. StrangeThanks for looking out, its Sunday night and I was dying for something Cosmic horror or mindbending to watch
Event Horizon re-watch will have to do
Resolution then The Endless.wait so should i watch resolution then the endless, or the endless then resolution first.
which order?!!?!
I hear this so often, but I just don't see it. I understand Paul W.S. Anderson wanted there to be some homages, but you actually see the inside of the puzzle box in the Hellraiser series at some point. The chaos dimension in EH is only described, which, combined with everything else that goes on on the ship, makes the sense of dread about it that much stronger. I don't really believe final form Weir to be much of a Pinhead clone/knockoff either.