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Horror and Gothic Elements in the Bond Films

FoxRoxFoxRox
in Bond Movies Posts: 12,474
Every now and then, Bond films can dive into creepy horror/gothic-type elements! What are some examples you all feel fall under this category? Some of mine include the voodoo / black magic in LALD, the Egypt scenes with Jaws in TSWLM, Sanchez's brutality in LTK (specifically having the guy's heart cut out and exploding Krest's head), and statue graveyard in GE.

Comments

  • GatecrasherGatecrasher Classified
    Posts: 265
    I’d say the titles sequences for both SF and SP are pretty gothic from an aesthetic standpoint. Not really my cup o’ tea when it comes to Bond. I love gothic/horror elements as much as the next person, but it went a little overboard here. I think LALD is the perfect balance of those aesthetics and campy, kitschy fun.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,585
    Agree with all the scenes mentioned above.

    Also, Jaws in MR, strolling down Carioca Avenue in that creepy clown suit.

    Do animal threats count as horror?
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,041
    QBranch wrote: »
    Do animal threats count as horror?
    Probably depends on the viewer. Some people start screaming when they see a spider, even a small one. This is not to say that I would wish to encounter a Dr.-No-type tarantula. But with normal domestic spiders I don't care, since they are absolutely no threat.

    I also know people who are afraid of even small dogs: Maybe they were bitten when they were a child or something. I haven't had any real threatening situation or other negative encounter with dogs for ages. The most dangerous part about Pitbulls and Staffordshires are usually their owners. Then again, the two doberman pinchers chasing Corinne in MR would pass the test for a "horror" scene for me.

  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    edited February 2020 Posts: 2,426
    Corinne’ s death definitely! I also think 009’s chase and death dressed as the clown is a very macabre scene in OP.

    Tibbett’s car-wash death with the obscured figure of May Day rising from the back seat is similar to many ‘there’s someone in the car with you’ horror stories.

    And I think the whole Prater funfair scene in TLD has a macabre undertone, with Necros and his balloons stalking Saunders leading up to an inventive death that could be straight out of a Final Destination movie is great.
  • QBranchQBranch Always have an escape plan. Mine is watching James Bond films.
    Posts: 14,585
    I would count Corrine's death too, and other suggestions here. Silva's denture-pulling moment gave us a bit of much-needed horror in the DC era.
  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,589
    For some reason Scaramangas fun house was on a creepy/gothic setting. Especially with how it opens down that dark hallway with the sinister laugh.
  • GatecrasherGatecrasher Classified
    Posts: 265
    Forgot to mention the crows in Mr. White’s lodge in SP. I did love that bit, seeing DC’s Bond get a little jump-scare.
  • Max_The_ParrotMax_The_Parrot ATAC to St Cyril’s
    Posts: 2,426
    Yes, I’d agree with the fun house - certainly found it weird and unsettling as a kid.

    I think the ‘Blofeld drilling’ scene in SP is quite uncomfortable viewing as well, it has shades of A Clockwork Orange for me. The very clinical, white and sparse environment, and the slow controlled manner of Blofeld are pretty effective.

    I suppose you could include the various jump scares as well - the pigeon (dove?) in the cliff-face of FYEO and Stacey’s cat in AVTAK for example.

  • Last_Rat_StandingLast_Rat_Standing Long Neck Ice Cold Beer Never Broke My Heart
    Posts: 4,589
    Gatecrasher wrote: »
    Forgot to mention the crows in Mr. White’s lodge in SP. I did love that bit, seeing DC’s Bond get a little jump-scare.

    That whole scene is great.
  • LeonardPineLeonardPine The Bar on the Beach
    Posts: 4,016
    The voodoo aspect of LALD scared the crap out of me seeing in a dark cinema at the age of 6...! Baron Samendei is still an effectively scary character.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited February 2020 Posts: 9,041
    LeonardPine wrote: »
    The voodoo aspect of LALD scared the crap out of me seeing in a dark cinema at the age of 6...! Baron Samendei is still an effectively scary character.
    I can see that, but there you have the difference between the same movie being watched at the age of 6 and at the age of 17. I've mentioned several times before that I have a special love for LALD thanks to having seen it three times at the age of 17. But even then I thought the Voodoo angle was, well, stupid. I just don't believe in supernatural stuff, and once again, Bond films rely on the famous suspension of disbelief.

    If it really scared the crap out of you at the time, maybe the German idea of restricting most of the Bond movies to a minimum age of 12, and some even to 16, makes some sense after all.
  • IGotABrudderIGotABrudder UK
    Posts: 631
    The ‘dragon’ in DN? Widely believed by locals to be an actual monster until it’s revealed to be a vehicle.
  • RyanRyan Canada
    Posts: 692
    The surfing tsunami scene from Die Another Day. I still have nightmares about it. Scariest scene in all of Bond!
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited February 2020 Posts: 9,041
    Ryan wrote: »
    The surfing tsunami scene from Die Another Day. I still have nightmares about it. Scariest scene in all of Bond!

    I see what you're doing there. I'll call security and congratulate them.
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,474
    I still have a tough time deciding whether that falls more in the horror or comedy section myself!
  • FoxRoxFoxRox
    Posts: 12,474
    Something I want to add to this is that I find some CR tracks to be particularly eerie / horror-esque. A couple notable examples:



  • brown7777brown7777 chelmsford
    Posts: 11
    i think seeing Felix Leiter in License to Kill was horrific seeing his leg being chew off by a shark
  • ToTheRightToTheRight
    Posts: 16,169
    With it's woodsy location, 009 being stalked by Mischka and Grishka reminds me a bit of a Hammer horror style sequence.
  • bigladiesmanbigladiesman
    Posts: 1,009
    Again, I will say that Japanese operative running towards the camera kiai-ing all the way would have scared TLD out of infant me.

    Then again, I think Jaws stalking Manuela is still the scariest scene on all the series.
  • IGotABrudderIGotABrudder UK
    edited May 2020 Posts: 631
    Perhaps the scene in DN where Dent collects the spider.

    After all, in plot terms it’s just a simple “your mission is to kill Bond, here is your weapon” scene. If it was Jason Bourne or Mission Impossible or similar then it would be a normal room and the weapon would be a sniper rifle or something prosaic like that.

    But it’s not any of those things. It’s Dr No, and so the instruction comes from an eerie disembodied voice, the room is slanted and disorientating, and the assassination weapon is inside a cage, very much alive...

    That scene is where DN stops being a straightforward 1950s-style secret agent thriller and turns into something slightly weird, slightly gothic.
  • R1s1ngs0nR1s1ngs0n France
    edited May 2020 Posts: 2,148
    There are two films in the Bond franchise that scared me as a kid. YOLT and LALD
    Specifically Blofeld’s reveal in YOLT and the various voodoo elements in LALD.
    It may sound funny today but when 9yr old me first saw Pleasence’s horribly scarred face with that creepy death stare, it genuinely freaked me out. It took me several years before I mustered the ‘courage’ to revisit it.
    Several wtf moments in LALD - Rosie freaks out when she sees the scarecrow, the Dixie funeral and voodoo sacrifice in the PTS, snakes, sharks, Baron Samedi..
    A major contributor to the feel of dread in these movies are the soundtracks and theme songs - both ominous sounding with heavy use of wind instruments. As a kid. that music was synonyme of death for me.
  • GoldenGunGoldenGun Per ora e per il momento che verrà
    Posts: 7,136
    Don't know if anyone's mentioned the House of Wax and Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari influences on the décor of TMWTGG.

    The cinematography of both LALD and TMWTGG are reminicent of early 70's Italian giallo films too.
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