Phosphor

It was rumoured that Clive Owen was to be the next Bond, but that unfortunately turned out to not be true. Which is a shame as he'd be so good. As for the ever-popular ranking of the Bonds, I have to put Connery in the top spot followed by Lazenby. I think if Lazenby had done more Bond movies, he'd have proven to be the best of them, but I can't honestly say he was the best Bond based solely on one film.

The BG link was license name only, because that's what BIS would have to do in order to release a D&D game. They could have very well do Baldur's Gate 3: Kara-Tur Adventures had they wanted to. As for cameos, there was discussion on the Interplay boards about IWD NPCs (like Maralee Fiddlebender) being part of the story.

Glad you liked it! No, it's not scary but it has a very eerie feel to it. The film is more like a classic ghost story in tone and character than an outright horror film. Apparently the role of Lord Summerisle was/is one of Christopher Lee's all-time favourites.

They probably thought it was something else I keep meaning to see that one as well, speaking of movies on the to-see list.

I think the local Rogers has it for rent - or at least did at one point. Unfortunately, Rogers is about as good as it gets around here. Hence my not seeing stuff like Session 9 or Das Experiment.

A friend of mine keeps telling me I have to see Donnie Darko, but I never get around to renting it - there's always something else that I get and I completely forget about Darko. Doesn't it involve a kid with an imaginary rabbit? I've mentioned wanting to rent it to my girlfriend and she looks at me funny - and I have to admit, I can't help but think of Harvey.

:D That's so sad it's funny. As a troll post, that's firmly a D-

The title of Jefferson was to be "Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound".

Haven't seen it, but I have fond memories of Amityville. I saw that on TV when I was just a kid and it gave me nightmares for weeks. To this day I remember it as being the scariest movie I've ever seen, and I've not watched it since then. I haven't watched it because I'm afraid it'll be really lame and ruin the memory

Your comments about The Order are encouraging. I love theological stuff in a mystery-type film (I love the works of M.R. James, who incorporated a lot of theology - mainly Christianity - into his ghost stories). Ninth Gate was a can't-lose movie for me. Roman Polanski directing Johnny Depp as a rare-book dealer who comes across an ancient theological puzzle. Perfect! Stigmata was that film with Gabriel Byrne as a Catholic priest investigating a report of a stigmata in a New York hair dresser whom is more or less an atheist. The gist of the film being that what the Catholic church teaches as Christianity is just a self-serving indulgence that has nothing at all to do with the teachings of Christ. I really liked it.

A friend of mine said The Order was one of the worst films she had ever seen.. I thought the trailer looked decent, but I haven't seen the film yet. From what I saw in the trailers, it reminded me somewhat of Stigmata.. Can anyone compare the two? I know Stigmata was panned, but I really enjoyed it - I rather like that sort of thing. Ninth Gate was really good, too. Not scary, but a good mystery type of film.

I think the movie advertising people felt that in order to get a British movie like 28 Days released in North America, they'd have to play up the horror stuff to the audience.

Posts from Feargus just don't seem right without the Palpatine avatar.

I really liked 28 Days Later, but to call it a horror film is a bit of a stretch. I didn't find it scary at all - struck me as closer to a sci-fi film than horror. Sort of an Omega Man/Last Man On Earth type of sci-fi. The Argento film with Jennifer Connelly is called Phenomena.

I'd like to see a Cyberpunk game (not just the setting, but the rule set as well). I love that game, and it's a blast to play. I wouldn't want it as a FPS though. I do like tradtional fantasy games, but I think I need a break from them. I'd actually like to see a gameworld that is medieval in style but actually takes place in the far future after a massive apocalypse that destroys much of the world. All that's left is a few fragmentary remnants of the old world, and those remnants are treated like holy relics upon which the religion and scientific theories are based. If anyone has read the book "A Canticle For Liebowitz" you'll have an idea of what I'm looking at here.

These days I listen predominantly to classical music. I've rather outgrown my previous electro/industrial/whatever tastes. *looks at overflowing CD shelves that need a good purging*

Actually, Thief did have a musical score - it was almost industrial sounding, very percussion-heavy. It just mixed perfectly with the ambient sounds so it didn't stand out in a jarring fashion. I agree that both music and sound add to the experience of a game immeasurably. A diverse score is great particularly when there are a lot of location changes - the music and sound of a place is just as important - if not moreso - than the graphic representation. Grim Fandango was an unparelleled masterpiece. A bit frustrating at times, but as gameworld it remains unique and unmatched.

I find him tedious and obtuse most of the time. Almost forced in what he does, as though he's trying to be weird because that's what he wants people to see him as. Weirdness for the sake of weirdness with no real sincerity. Session 9: I want to see this, but no-one has it for rent. Also want to see a film called Das Experiment, but again, it eludes me. Storm Of The Century was hardly scary. Funny story related to that movie. Remember the little old lady who says she'll eat your eyes in hell? She lived around the corner from me (she's in a retirement home now) and was the sweetest little (really little) lady. She has a great tabby named Kahili who's very mischevious and I've helped her look for him on a few occasions. Anyways, I was walking home from work and she was outside and her smoke detector was going off and she told me she couldn't reach it to turn it off and asked if I might be a dear and help out. When I was doing this, I noticed she had a huge framed Aubrey Beardsley print, and I commented that I was a fan of his work, so she lent be the book he wrote, which I had been really wanting to read. Anyways. She never told me she'd eat my eyes in hell. Colm Feore was quite good in that movie though. It's kind of funny to see a guy you know being so evil. Rosemary's Baby and The Shining are both brilliant films - both by two of my favourite directors, too.

I thought The Ring was really boring. Had some neat visuals, but overall the movie was tedious and extremely lacking in anything coming close to scary. I haven't seen Ringu yet, though it's on my to-see-eventually list. Lost Highway had it's moments, but again not at all creepy. David Lynch is terribly over-rated in pretty much anything he does. The only decent thing he's done is Blue Velvet.

What worked for me with Signs was the way it was presented - it's a classic fear of the unknown, and I love that stuff. I thought tension and paranoia were extremely well handled in the movie, and you were given just enough to build your own fear from. But, like all Shyamalan's films seem to be, either they work for you or they don't. Personally, I think he's brilliant. Regarding Event Horizon - I saw it in the theatre and found it nicely creepy. But I later rented it and it wasn't anywhere near unsettling - I think it's a film that relied a lot on sound and overwhelming visual immersion so watching it on television just failed to do the movie any justice. I too cringe at the thought of a Wickerman remake. I haven't heard anything about it for a while now, so maybe it's a dead project? *fingers crossed*

Fear is tough to convey through film. It's a very personal emotion, formed by your own psyche, beliefs, perspectives and so forth, and is something felt in a way other emotions are not. To convey fear in the same way that a movie could convey sadness (for example) is so rare and difficult to do. Fear in the form that it often takes in a film really requires you to be there in the protagonist's position because the fear is enhanced by environment. But you're safe in your living room or movie theatre, so there's a barrier in place.

The trick to a good horror film is not blood, gore, shock and grue, but a good, intellectual story with many strange twists and turns designed to bend reality a bit, to defy reason, logic and accepted order. That's why The Exorcist was so successful - it was in such terrifying defiance of all that was considered good and right. Too many horror movies just cobble together tired cliches and standard formulas. One of the best horror movies (in my opinion) takes place in broad daylight in a prosaic countryside, complete with folk singing and general cheer. But the film is still quite creepy - it's The Wickerman. Films today that are tagged with the horror name are rarely frightening or even unsettling. The last recent movie I saw that I'd consider horror was Signs. That was so skillfully done and truly got under my skin in a way no movie has ever done.

But Samm's point still stands, I think. The basics of the Planescape setting are present in the basic D&D game, all that's missing are the official place and character names as well as other defining titles. I'd think that it would be possible to do a Planescape-like game under a D&D license, just don't call it Planescape. Of course, Obsidian doesn't have any rights to the D&D license, so it's all pretty moot unless or until they get a contract with Atari.. Which I'd really rather not see. Like Mr.Teatime said, and I wholly agree, it's not the named setting that matters, but the presentation of the story and it's elements. There's nothing that says Obsidian couldn't make a game under a uniquely designed set of rules that takes place in an extra-dimensional setting with a fantasy/post-apocalyptic and demonically-touched style to it all. That'd be preferable to trying to work in the constraints of someone else's license.

Black

Probably for the same reasons you wouldn't belly flop into a big vat of molten lava.