Thursday, March 27, 2008

Thursday's Ways Not To Die

Apologies up front: I sorta fell in love with how visually striking and just plain beautiful (up until the end, that is) the following scene is to look at, so I took more screen-caps then I probably needed to... this is a long one.

And if you haven't seen 2004's Enduring Love starring Daniel Craig and don't know what's coming, spoilers are ahead (although it is only the opening scene)... and it's pretty gory at the end so be forewarned of that too. And see this movie already!


In a film bookended by two moments of truly spectacular horror, this opener remains a stunner every time I watch the film, and casts a very dark shadow of fear over what follows. That the denouement more than lives up to the promise set so early on - I've praised the end of the film previously, right here - only cements this flick as one of the greats of the Aughts; a truly under-acknowledged gem. The interruption of a peaceful moment so violently with something that seems so harmless at first... the way it just sneaks up on you... chills. I could even get into 9/11 parallels here - the beautiful blue-skied morning interrupted by a violent descent out of the sky - but I'll refrain for now.

Cuz okay, yeah, all that's definitely true... but right now I'm just using this as an excuse to finally freeze-frame the gore in this scene and get a good look at it, since I normally jerk my head away. Nastiness!

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Previous Ways Not To Die: Puppy Betrayal -- High-Heeled By A Girlfriend Impersonator -- Flip-Top Beheaded -- Because I'm Too Goddamned Beautiful To Live -- By Choosing... Poorly... -- Fried Alive Due To Baby Ingenuity -- A Good Old-Fashioned Tentacle Smothering -- Eepa! Eepa! -- Gremlins Ate My Stairlift -- An Icicle Thru The Eye -- Face Carved Off By Ghost Doctor After Lesbian Tryst With Zombie Women -- Electrocuted By Fallen Power-Lines -- A Mouthful Of Flare -- Taken By The TV Lady -- Bitten By A Zombie -- Eaten By Your Mattress -- Stuffed To Splitting -- Face Stuck In Liquid Nitrogen -- Crushed By Crumbling Church Debris -- Bitten By The Jaws Of Life -- A Machete To The Crotch -- Showering With A Chain-Saw -- In A Room Filled With Razor Wire -- Pod People'd With Your Dog -- Force-Fed Art -- Skinned By A Witch -- Beaten With An Oar -- Curbed -- Cape Malfunction -- In The Corner -- Cooked In A Tanning Bed -- Diced -- Punched Through The Head -- Bugs Sucking On Your Head
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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you haven't done it yet, I'd like to nominate the electrocution scene from 1987's "The Believers" as a way not to die.

Love your site!

sparky2379 said...

eesh. i don't know why, but the typical horror types of these you post usually don't phase me. this one, however. i think when my best friend and i saw it in the theater i sat there for about five minutes afterword with my mouth hanging open.

Joel said...

One of the truly great scenes of the last 10 years. Just a shame not many have seen it.

zooplah said...

Never seen it, but man, that guy with glasses who's wearing the bluish shirt is hot.