Films I think make good inspirational viewing for Ravenloft

[Steve Miller]

This is an off-the-cuff list of movies I think make good viewing if you want to crib elements for Ravenloft games. (Inspired by the "Actor" thread in the General forum...)

In the order they come to mind...

"The Fog"
"The Gorgon"
"Plague of Zombies"
"Frankenstein Created Woman"
"Brides of Dracula"
"Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires"
"Scars of Dracula"
"Dracula Has Risen From the Grave"
"Cursed"
"Horror Express"
"The Vampire Effect"
"Wishmaster"
"The Mummy" (Hammer or 1930s Universal version)
"White Zombie"
"Dawn of the Dead"
"Dusk 'til Dawn" (an example of how to take a left-turn into horror territory)
"Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter"
"Fallen"
"Thirteen Ghosts" (I don't think either version is all that good, but there are some nuggets in both.)

[Drinnik Shoehorn]

Can I add:

The Frighteners (for the Ghostsight feat)
The Buffy episodes "Hush", "Restless", "I Only Have Eyes for You", "Nightmares" and "Same Time, Same Place".
Pirates of the Carrabean: Curse of the Black Pearl
Ginger Snaps

[Dr Bloodworth]

Some movies and what domain they'd be.

"From Hell" (Paridon)
"Nosferatu" (1979 -- Lamordia)*
"The Reptile" (Mordent)

* No, I didn't mention the 1922 silent version. I just think the Werner Herzog version has more Ravenlofty visuals.

[Jasper]

I will throw in Le Pacte de Lupus (Brotherhood of the wolf)

It has gypsies , secret botherhoods, a huge semi-supernatural beast, a spot on portayal of a non-asain monk, a spot on portrayal of the court poisoner class, and some of the best fighting scenes out side of Crouching Tiger.

In other word the perfect Raveloft film. Just tweek the monster, replace the Pope with the Ezran church, tweek some place names, plop it down in the wilds between Mordent and Dementlieu and you have a premade adventure.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

Hmm...off the top of my head, the only one that really comes to mind is "The Shaft" AKA "Down", a confusing mess of a movie that can't seem to make up it's mind if it's a ghost story or a science-gone-mad story. On the other had, up until about the second half of the film, it's a good example of how a phantasmagora can be both malevolant enough to cause fear and unease, but subtle enough that even those afraid of it doubt that what occured was anything more than an accident. Of course, once the deaths start getting blantantly supernatural, I'd reccomend you just stop watching.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

All of the Ginger Snaps movies come to mind Particularly Ginger Snaps Back.

May
Frailty
The Pit and the Pendulum (both movies)
Night of the Living Dead
Masque of the Red Death
Phantom of the opera (1926)
Subspecies
Romasanta (bad movie, good ideas)
Curse of the Werewolf
The Wolfman
13 Ghosts
House on Haunted Hill
The haunting
Steven King's Rose Red (okay, it was a mini series, but who's counting)
The Evil Dead (for GE)
Dracula
Frankenstein
Nosferatu (1922, coz I prefer it)

[Brandi]

The Others
The Haunting (1963 version, ie the only good one) seconded: it's practically a night in the House of Lament
The Shining (either version, though I prefer Kubrick's) for another good example of a phantasmagora
Masque of the Red Death (1964) for an example of one of the Castle Avernus parties
Shadow of the Vampire, less for the overall storyline than a good sense of how alienated a very old vampire might become
The Wicker Man

That's all I can think of for now...

[Steve Miller]

Hmm...off the top of my head, the only one that really comes to mind is "The Shaft" AKA "Down", a confusing mess of a movie that can't seem to make up it's mind if it's a ghost story or a science-gone-mad story. On the other had, up until about the second half of the film, it's a good example of how a phantasmagora can be both malevolant enough to cause fear and unease, but subtle enough that even those afraid of it doubt that what occured was anything more than an accident. Of course, once the deaths start getting blantantly supernatural, I'd reccomend you just stop watching.

Just to show there's no accounting for taste (or maybe there is), here's the review of "The Shaft" I posted earlier this month to my messageboard:

The Shaft
Two Out of Five Stars

The express elevators in New York City's famous Millenium Building suddenly seem to develop minds of their own... and they're minds bent on murder! Will a slacker ex-Marine hunk turned elevator repairman and a sexy, plucky girl tabloid reporter (over-acted by Naomi Watts) uncover the truth of what's happening, or will they fall victim to elevator industry cover-ups, mad scientists delving in Elevator Technology Man Was Not Meant to Know, and renegade killer elevators?

This move features a script that should have gone through a draft or two more, copious overacting (everyone is SO over the top here that Michael Ironsides--featured in a small but pivotal part--seems subdued and restrained), and too many 'because the plot requires it' moments to count. There's enough interesting things here to keep the viewer's attention, but ultimately the movie is unsatisfying and lame, mostly because it has the killer elevators display truly amazing and physically impossible things without even bothering to attempt to explain them. (Sadly, one of my favorite killer elevator scenes is tied into one of these... the death of the obnoxious rollerblader. Yeah, sure... the building's express elevators have developed a mind of their own through the wonders of mad science, but how does that let them completely ignore the laws of physics?)

A fun film, if you can get it cheap or for free... and if you have absolutely nothing to do, or something better to watch. And if you do have an itch to see a killer elevator movie, seek out the Dutch The Lift. It's much better.

[Corrupted_Loremaster]

Yeah, sure... the building's express elevators have developed a mind of their own through the wonders of mad science, but how does that let them completely ignore the laws of physics?)

Well that's one of the things that bothered me. A one point it seemed like they were trying to imply it was some kind of ghost, what with the story of The Heroe's Buddie's Last Partner dying after becoming trapped in the elevator shaft, that scene with the HBLP's crazy voodoo practicing girlfriend and whatnot. That might have made some of the blantantly impossible stuff acceptable, but then they go off in a completly different direction, making it look like it's actually some kind of biomechanical super AI gone bad (nevermind that they've managed to build a biomechanial AI and chosen to use it the operate a freakin' elevator). It's like they had two scripts about a killer elevator that were kind of similar, so they just mashed them together and made one movie.

[JinnTolser]

How about:

"Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter"
"Frogs"
"The Satanic Rites of Dracula"
"Blood Creature"
"Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory"
"The Beast that Killed Women"

If you've seen any of these, of course you know I'm joking.
Although, "Blood Creature" did come up with the idea of a man-panther decades before Baron von Kharkov was invented...

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

How about:

"Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter"
"Frogs"
"The Satanic Rites of Dracula"
"Blood Creature"
"Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory"
"The Beast that Killed Women"

If you've seen any of these, of course you know I'm joking.
Although, "Blood Creature" did come up with the idea of a man-panther decades before Baron von Kharkov was invented...

You forgot Teen Vamp and Vimpire Knights (AKA - Vampire Party) lol

[ScS of the Fraternity]

I can't believe no-one mentioned Sleepy Hollow.

This is an outrage!

[JinnTolser]

You forgot Teen Vamp and Vimpire Knights (AKA - Vampire Party) lol

Never seen those. I'm gonna have to go track em down.

[Wiccy of the Fraternity]

I can't believe no-one mentioned Sleepy Hollow.

This is an outrage!

Thought I had mentioned it??? Oh well, it's been mentioned now, lol.

Never seen those. I'm gonna have to go track em down.

Also look out for My Best Friend is a Vampire, Once Bitten, Love at First Bite, I bought a Vampire Motorcycle, Cradle of Fear.... err... that'll do for now. Vampire Knights can be VERY difficult to find, I've been after a copy for 10 years and never found one

[Grigg_Deadbreaker]

Recently I watched the film "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" starring Tim Roth and Gary Oldman. I'd have to say if you think of Richard Dreyfuss's character as Lemont Sediam Juste, that movie is an excellent representation of what it might be like to be trapped in Scaena.