Movies that surprise you

[Texdar]

I'm relatively new to the board here.  I have posted a couple times but just enjoy reading what everyone else has posted.  

I haven't checked  any older posts so if there is one, please let me know and I can look at that.  I was wondering if any of you have recently seen a movie that took you by surprise at how good it was.  I use to get surprised alot by movies when I rented video tapes in the late 80's to mid 90's but as of lately haven't found a gem I knew nothing about.  I honestly can't remember the last movie that blew me away unexpectedly.  Most I see now are good and entertaining but no "wow" factor.

Like I said if there is a topic on this already I'll have a look at that.  Thanks in advance.  You guys rule!!!!!

[odinn7]

I found that in the 80's and 90's that I was easier to impress as far as movies go but I also figure that may have something to do with movies possibly being better back then. At any rate, it happens few and far between these days that I'll watch a movie and actually like it, much less being surprised by it in a good way. Sakboi has mentioned a few films here and some of them turned out to be great. 'Session 9' was an excellent movie and quite welcomed by me after a dry spell of renting and seeing nothing put crap. In the theatres I saw 'Sin City' and although I went in expecting a decent movie, I was blown away by this movie by the time it was over. 'Batman Begins' was another one that was better than I could have hoped for. One movie that I rented a few years ago that I knew nothing about but turned out to be one of the best surprises I can recall from renting was 'Dog Soldiers'. I figured it for a cheap-ass werewolf movie, but for me, it was nothing short of fantastic.
It does happen now and then but for the most part these days, Hollywood is turning out crap and that's what we're getting on the shelves of rental stores.

[Scottie]

Been a while-- here goes

Evil Dead &Evil Dead  2- I'd only heard of the reputation these movies get. People on this board state their love for it almost daily by referencing it as an example of technique or outright as a quote. I hadn't seen them until a few months ago but my life is a better place now knowing that someone has made an outstanding horror movie for under a million bucks. Absolutely impressive with innovative style and technique from Sam Raimi. It goes without question that giving a project such as Spiderman to this guy was a good choice. His ability to manage a set and keep a vision simultaneously is outstanding. I love it.

Dead Alive- Yet another amazing director gets his start by making awesome horror movie. It seems the gorier and goofier the style, the more fun it is to watch and the better the movie (I think that information leaked to Hollywood and they misinterpreted it to say "the gorier and stupider the better"). I'm a big fan of Jackson's work, even Lord of the Rings, because he's like Sam Raimi and is able to have full control over a major set. We all saw the trailers for King Kong; whether it tanks at the box office or not will most likely not depend upon the quality of the movie. There are other more complex forces at work diminishing the movie going public this summer season.

[Menard]

SATAN IN HIGH HEELS comes to mind. I saw this earlier this year out of a collection of Sinister Cinema tapes I had. I wasn't expecting much from a 1962 sexploitation film (tame for today), but was absolutely blown away by how good the movie was overall from the writing, directing, and acting.

[ulthar]

The Final Cut is my most recent "even better than I expected" rental.

[Texdar]

Oh yeah I forgot about Sin City.  That was a really kick ass movie.

[Gerry]

EQUILIBRIUM surprised me quite a bit.  I was expecting a MATRIX knock-off but instead got a movie that's actually quite a bit better than MATRIX in a lot of ways.  Another notch on Christian Bale's utility belt.

[odinn7]

Forgot to mention Equilibrium...excellent movie. Saw it on Showtime, not expecting much but then I had to go out and buy it.

[Shadow]

"The Undertaker and his Pals."

I was expecting a real yawn-inducing crapfest, but I was actually mildly entertained by it's black humor. The short running time didn't hurt, either.

[Amanda]

Session 9 and Dog Soldiers were WONDERFUL.  As was Sin City, but alas, I missed Batman Begins.  

Have you heard anything new on Dog Soldiers 2?

[Amanda]

One that I was surprised about *braces for backlash* was one called "Vampires Anonymous".  I thought it was pretty damn funny......

[Scott]

Spider Baby was a surprise. Definately a weird film.

[Just Plain Horse]

Dog Soldiers was a bit better than I had expected- and about three times longer, too. Most inventive gore I've seen in a long time.

Altered States was a film that caught me completely off guard. A bit long-winded, but the visuals made me feel like I was on an acid trip or something.

Razorback had a few suprises. The part where the hero is out in the desert hallucinating and the kangaroo hunt are firmly etched in my brain.

Horror Hotel was much better than I thought- only the ineffectual heroes brought it down a little. Christopher Lee makes everything better.

I'd heard all sorts of stuff about Carnival of Souls, but I was still very suprised at how well it turned out. Top ten material in my opinion.

And a personal favorite, GMK still amazed me by how much it was a depature from other Godzilla films, yet came off somewhat refreshing and unique. The monsters seem to move much more effortlessy and with greater fluidity than in the past.

[Jim H]

Slashers was much, much better than I expected it to be.  I now have the theme song as a ringer on my cellphone.  

The film works on most levels, and they did a great job with the "gimmick" of the film - continuous and unbroken.  The cuts that you can notice are there because the director later cut out 20 minutes out of the film.  Good commentary on the DVD also.

http://www.slashersthemovie.com/showtheme.mp3