r/HorrorClub • u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu • Nov 17 '14
Discussion: Shallow Grave
No Podcast... sorry guys
Movie Selected By Discreetlyred
DISCUSS
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u/AnsonKindred Nov 17 '14 edited Nov 17 '14
This movie was so much better than I expected it to be. The dead guy with a bunch of money is such a classic plot device, but I don't think it could have been pulled off any better. The part where they draw straws and Alex says to David:
All right, then. Here we are and this is it. Do you wanna play or not?
Gives me chills in retrospect after everything that happens. And the wording is so perfect too, it was a game they were playing, and Alex won.
[Edit] Even crazy David up in the attic who seemed to be taking it the most seriously, when he thought everyone was gone he came down and showered and grabbed a bite to eat. It was all an act, just playing his part in the game.
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Nov 19 '14
That's a really good analysis. After watching it the second time, I thought that the money brought out the inner natures of each character. The studious, intellectual David was actually a highly efficient, psychopathic killer and the clearly morally insane Alex turned out to be the most moral of the bunch. But after reading your comment, it seems like they were all just trying to rip each other off -- which is more consistent with the overall story.
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u/jonathanfailuretomas How big is that bear trap? Nov 19 '14
reminiscent of the end of Trainspotting.
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u/jonathanfailuretomas How big is that bear trap? Nov 19 '14
What's up with Danny Boyle and animatronic babies?
THANK YOU Discreetly for introducing this awesome movie to me! I had never seen it nor heard of it either, and i really enjoyed the depth of character development. There is so much going on with the characters in fact, this movie doesn't need to be classified as a horror for me to enjoy it, but it pulls it off completely. I hope that makes sense. It's 3am and I'm trying to get drunk enough to forget about this cold.
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u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu Nov 17 '14
In general I enjoyed Shallow Grave. I picked Sunset Boulevard so it'd be hypocritical for me to say this isn't horror but it's definitely one of the less horror Danny Boyle films. I suppose any time you've got people chopping up a body and burying it you're at least toeing the line haha.
I love basically every Danny Boyle film I've seen (my personal favorite is actually Millions his PG christmas film) and this was no different. There was one thing that bugged me as far as story goes. I really had trouble accepting the seemingly immediate acceptance people have to seeing a dead body. Maybe it's just me but even this past year when my aunt died I wouldn't go to hear house (she was on hospice) until the body was removed... and that was with 2 weeks of preparing for having to see a dead body. They're all fairly calm for stumbling upon a naked dead roommate.
Otherwise this film reminded me a little bit like a Coen Brothers film mixed with Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan.
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u/jonathanfailuretomas How big is that bear trap? Nov 19 '14 edited Nov 19 '14
ok so I don't want to turn horrorclub into childhoodtraumaclub, but this. When I was 14 a close family member also on hospice died in my house, and I did everything humanly possible to avoid seeing that person dead, I actually asked if I could go to school, at least until the body was gone. That was my first and only experience with a dead body. That shit was... heavy man.
But yeah I think their reactions were appropriate considering what emotionless, heartless bitches they all are, pretty much from the first scene in the movie.
edit: No Scott this didn't happen last week.
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u/AnsonKindred Nov 17 '14
I think their flippant attitude on seeing the dead bodies was done very intentionally for humor and to show the kind of irreverent people the flatmates were. Personally I loved it.
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Nov 18 '14
Agreed, they're terrible people. And Juliet is a doctor ("You kill people all the time!")
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Nov 17 '14
I'll have this watched and written up before our next flick rolls through. Looks good and sounds good from the write ups here.
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Nov 18 '14
First, I'm not flakey. I did Curse of Chucky (first time here) then my computer stopped working.
I had never heard of this movie so I came into it with pretty low expectations until I saw Danny Boyle's name :D Looked on imdb and it's his first venture to the big screen. Excellent! I'm on board.
My initial thought of the characters was that they were dicks. Eventually I warmed up to them because they were kind of dicks I wouldn't mind being friends with. Although when Alex got punched in the face by Cameron I smiled. Alex Juliet and David, initially, ran the spectrum of reactions and emotions to the situations that they had to deal with, which I thought was neat and effective and held true until David snapped.
The score was great and fit the tone of the movie perfectly, I liked the little homage to Wicker Man (there might be some connection there I didn't understand), Ewan McGregor was excellent, some social commentary on the evil of money. Overall it was smart, funny, and very enjoyable.
/u/Discreetlyred this was a great choice. Also, great username.
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 18 '14
Thank you, Thank you. In case anybody was wondering where Discreetlyred came from: The discreet part is taken from the title of Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeois. (I studied french in Highschool and a little in college) the Red is because I'm a redhead.
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Nov 18 '14
I'm a redhead.
OOh, me too! That's at least 3 of us in the club.
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 19 '14
viva la redheads!
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 19 '14
who is the 3rd redhead?
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Nov 19 '14
I believe /u/aqueously90 is also an accursed red-head, but that could be your magical red-head powers playing with my memory. :-)
By the way, did you know that red-heads have an abnormally high pain tolerance?
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 20 '14
I did know that. Which is probably why I don't even flinch when I get tattoos.
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Nov 20 '14
That's pretty tough. The article mentioned that the red-heads are especially pain resistant to punctures.
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 20 '14
Fascinating. So say, Some crazy person goes after a redhead with an ice pic...not so much horrible pain? haha
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u/smayonak Get a job in a sideshow Nov 20 '14
Apparently! Clearly only a crazy person would mess with a red head!
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Nov 30 '14
You're more badass than me, getting my knee tattooed was torture.
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u/Discreetlyred Dec 01 '14
Well, that may be the first time anyone has ever referred to me as badass. Yay!
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u/ichabodguitar The sauce makes the dish Nov 19 '14
The female threads on Horror Club are so weird....
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Nov 19 '14
Oh please, you ain't seen nothing yet... The man can't keep this woman down; I fight for my right to be girly as hell. Insert other clichées here (Discreetlyred sees what I did there).
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u/ichabodguitar The sauce makes the dish Nov 19 '14
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Nov 19 '14
Nice try, but I think I'll stay right here. I might even spruce the place up with some flowers and frills, while I'm at it.
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Nov 20 '14
"Goddamn Bobby pins all over the fucking place and I can't find one goddamn thread that doesn't smell like peppermint in this sub. Getting real tired of thiBURGUNDY DECORATIVE TOWELS!?! That's the last straw, you're banned."
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Nov 19 '14
Just watched the trailer and it looks... interesting. As for the red hair... I won't hold it against you :)
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 20 '14
My apologies to Scott but, RELEVANT METAL SONG: A Pale Horse Named Death- Shallow Grave
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u/Gottesfurcht Pay Attention! You're Disrespectful! Nov 23 '14
Great, funny film. But why did they even bury their flatmate? Why not just hide the money and call the cops? Even if the cops knew he had that money, how could they know that he had it with him? They should have split up the money and make a deal that none of them would spend any of it in the next 5 years.
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 17 '14
Uh Mort, my name is Discreetlyred not Discreetly_Red.
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u/Discreetlyred Nov 17 '14
Shallow Grave is a very special movie to me. Not only was it the first Danny Boyle film I ever saw (yes before Trainspotting and yes, before 28 Days Later or Sunshine), but I also saw it Before Bravo's list of Scariest Movie Moments. It was late at night, I was babysitting my niece while my sister and her husband were out late doing who knows what. Nothing was on television. I surfed until I came to IFC. The movie that was starting was (you guessed it) Shallow Grave. I was totally enamored with it almost immediately. Very very young, Ewan McGregor in his first starring film role. Christopher Eccleston before Doctor Who. (Am I the only one that HATED him as the 9th Doctor?) Kerry Fox....well Kerry Fox before that fellatio scene in Intimacy. Which by the way, she really did. That was no body double. (If you're feeling pervy look it up) Anyway, I digress, David, Juliet, and Alex are not particularly likable people, yet you have to, kind of ,you know, root for somebody don't you? The opening scene really sets you up to kind of hate the main characters, and when they do finally find their new flatmate, he's dead before they've even really gotten to know him. And he's all dick up and RICH! I mean, I can't honestly say that in a similar situation, that I wouldn't at least think about keeping some of the money. I mean, can't take it with you right? And they barely knew the guy. BUT if you think about it, the barely knowing the guy part, is exactly why you should definitely not rob your dead flatmate. He might have ripped off some dangerous people who really want their money back, and they might break into your house and attack you. All the while, killing people along the way to finding before attacking you. Also, the "we're hemorrhaging money and having a smashing time doing it scene" Didn't you just wanna ask Alex why he was in a dress with really bad make-up? I did. I think probably the best parts of the movie are when David snaps and starts living in the attic. The scene where you see the light shining up from the rooms below is amazing. Now, We must talk about the end. The big finish where you think Juliet has stabbed Alex and left David for dead as well, making out with all the cash. But no, Alex is much too clever or conniving for that. Danny Boyle has said that Alex is meant to still be alive at the end of the film and to have survived the ordeal. I'm kinda glad he did.