MovieChat Forums > Pi (1998) Discussion > The scariest movie i've ever seen. now T...

The scariest movie i've ever seen. now THAT'S powerful cinema.

posted 15 years ago by AudreyHamm
23 replies | jump to latest

i dont know about you guys, but that last couple of scenes scared the *beep* out of me! between the music and the chase and the yelling and the camera angles, i was so freaked out!
even just the scene with the ohone ringing and ringing and ringing actually drove ME insane!

i thought i was going crazy just like max. now THAT'S good cinema.

whether or not u liked it for the math or whatever, u HAVE to admit its waaaay powerful.

i dont think ill ever be the same.

you remind me of the babe
*( l a b y r i n t h )*

[–] neosisir 15 years ago

Yeah , I felt the same.

The phone ringing; the chasing with all the shaky steady-cam work, that irritating noise when he gets his headache was all too much. I felt really irritated to the point of thinking about fast forwarding the movie.
It was real crazy stuff.
The last time I felt this was the japanese disco scene in Babel, the background sound reaching painful, irritating levels.

I think it was all intentional just to engage the viewer, sort of chris nolan like.

[–] ratonbox 15 years ago

exactly the same as neosisir... and i felt just the same when i saw Babel. I guess this how cinema should be done.

[–] mishival 13 years ago

All the way thorough the movie I thought of Eraserhead - it was the same type of alien, yet familiar experience, where the "normal" things get mixed up with strange and scary motives, giving you a very strange, alienating movie that gets in your head.

[–] danickster 11 years ago

Yes exactly! I wouldn't be surprised if Eraserhead heavily influenced this.

[–] I_Aint_No_Prophet 11 years ago

Likewise. I kept thinking that Lynch's sound design in Eraserhead had to have been one of the primary influences on Aronofsky's approach to this film.

"Why do you find it so hard to believe?"
"Why do you find it so easy?"
"It's never BEEN easy!"

[–] Phrixotrichus 10 years ago

Except this movie had actual substance and not just style like Eraserhead who used randomness to pass itself off as a masterpiece

[–] scared_crows69 15 years ago

yes very powerful ... the entire film is a cinematic masterpiece

[–] Stickman38 15 years ago

I liked it... its good film. But its very similar to A Beautiful Mind. I think ABM is a better film and its based on a true story but PI was a good movie. Lots of good acting and intense moments going on in this film.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] lanelewis 15 years ago

if you think this is bad then watch Requiem for a Dream, the director's second movie. it has alot of the same weird things as Pi (shaky camera, mounted camera on the character as their running, crazy noises, etc.) its one of the most terrifying, disturbing movies i've ever seen.

[–] requiempoet 15 years ago

Darren Aranofsky scares the crap out of me with his movies...they're wonderful but scary.

SuperGibbs! Faster than a speeding Dodge Charger - Slacker girl

[–] umme4uke 14 years ago

You recon?

I find the way he changes sound volume in certain scenes to be mildly shocking but visually all the scenes are quite tame.

That's not to say I don't like his films.

I very much enjoyed Pi and loved Black Swann (though I thought Requium for a Dream was overrated nonsence) because they made me think emotionally (even if the intellectual stuff is debatable). He seems a better version of Nolan, in that they both make films that feel like they have more depth than they actually do but atleast he pulls it off better IMO.

[–] ruopollo-1 15 years ago

I loved the phone ringing scene because it was annoying me and driving me insane too, I think that the director used that and other features of the film to provide this sensation of anxious, impatience, nervousness, etc. To make the viewer feel like he is inside Max's brain for a moment, which totally worked on me. Pretty good movie.

[–] AudreyHamm 15 years ago

I couldn't agree more! I literally felt like I was going crazy, especially that damn phone. By the end of the movie it was actually painful to my ears. Overall, I don't think I've ever been that affected by a film. It truly haunted me and definitely got my attention (finally, I mean it takes a lot these days ya know?).

you remind me of the babe
*( l a b y r i n t h )*

[–] imdblovers 15 years ago

For that phone, actually I'm wondering, Why he doesn't just plugged out the cable ?

[–] paulalexburns 15 years ago

Yes. Its like that the first time. I just saw this today. The first time you see one of these films, well, just as you said, it changes you forever. Yet somehow you get hardened to it. If I saw this ten years ago I'd have found the whole experience very impactful. Now its a bit like, (as afraid I am to say this), meh.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] decemed 14 years ago

so do you eventually pile up all the books and make a bonfire to melt the ice or do you just hit the ice with the axe? if so, do you only need one axe or many, and what does many represent symbolically in this case?

axe vs ice. just dont get it.

maybe try books are hammers for the walls we have built around our thinking.

are they? nah....

they might help you break out though, right?

so what are they?

tools?

tools to open your mind, to see whats in right front of you.

good luck all on the path.

[–] Bree_33 13 years ago

Aronofsky ' films hits you in the head. His favorite organ must be the brain.

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~nec spe,nec metu

[–] Nameless_Faceless 12 years ago

I watched it with a friend & it messed him up for a good few hours. We did all have a good laugh at him about it.