Vacation

I am on vacation, and all I want to do is read. I made myself a list of things I want to accomplish, and finishing some books is on there. But I have no interest in doing any of the other things. What I want to do is read more. I want to re-read the Haunting of Hill House. I want to finish the lovely new book by Sy Montgomery that I have been taking my sweet time with (because secretly I don't want it to end). I want to finish the second book in the Sunstone series (and I will, don't you fret). And now I want to re-read a book I first read ten years ago, mentioned in this article by Soraya Roberts called The Others: Why Women are Shut Out of Horror. I've been watching horror films, along with my siblings and friends since, well since I was much younger than the appropriate age for those very films. Many of the friends I watch with are women, and many are queer. The notion that horror is just for "teenage boys" is ridiculous, but it has been perpetuated over and over and over. The idea that women "don't" or "can't" make good, enjoyable, entertaining, excellent horror films is ludicrous. Some of the best horror films I have seen in the last 5 years have been directed (and written or co-written by women): The Devil's Doorway (Aislinn Clark), The Babadook (Jennifer Kent), Raw (Julia Ducournau), A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour), Karyn Kusama (Jennifer's Body, The Invitation) and Alice Lowe (Prevenge). We have the Soska Sisters (American Mary, ABC's of Death 2, upcoming remake of Rabid) and Coralie Fargeat (Revenge) pushing boundaries. Mary Herron (American Psycho). Mary Lambert (Pet Semetary 1 &2), and Jackie Kong (Blood Diner) who made 80's and 90's horror with little mention of the films having a women at the helm. Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow made Near Dark, a genre busting vampire movie. I'm just dropping a few names but there are more. Let women in, dudes. They are making original, scary movies, not just regurgitating the same old cliched stuff.  

More 31 Days of Horror

How about some catch up from the last several days?

October 21st. Slice. I loved this wacky werewolf-ghosts-witches horror comedy. A24 continues to make movies from all genres I enjoy.

October 22nd. Dressed to Kill. I haven't seen this in maybe 25 years and it still holds up as a very good psychological Hitchcockian thriller. Watched this one with a ghost(s) I know, who found a quote from Hithcock upon being asked if he knew this was an homage to him "You mean frommage?"Oh, that Hitch.

October 23rd. The Howling. Got to share another favorite with the Dr. that she had never seen. I know many people say An American Werewolf in London is THE werewolf movie, but not for me. I will always say The Howling. It shows werewolves not just as monsters, but as monsters within all of us. Any of us. Plus, those transformation effects are bananas.

October 24th. The Skeleton Key. I saw this in the theater back when it first came out and thought it was so so and pretty formulaic. I still think it's a bit formulaic, but much better than I remember with some good scares and that twist is pretty nifty. However, the scariest thing is Peter Sarsgaard's NOLA accent.

October 25th. Another Evil. I missed this at Ithaca Fantastik a year or so ago, and thought it was just a run of the mill horror comedy about a haunted home. Wow, was I wrong. This comedy is a pitch black take on loneliness and mental instability, with some ghosts tossed in.

October 26th. Lace Crater. Last year I joked about this one, as Shudder's synopsis explained it was about a woman experiencing strange changes to her body after having sex with a ghost. That synopsis was accurate, but only the tip of the iceberg. Original and very dark comedy about, Ruth, a woman wanting romance and/or a connection who finds it with a ghost she meets in her friends pool house in the Hamptons. After the hook up, she is left to deal with her feelings (and the effects of the supernatual STD) alone.

October 27th. The Devil's Doorway. I saw this one months ago on the big screen, but was excited to share it with the Dr. I didn't get a chance to write about it the first time around, but Aislinn Clarke's found footage film is terrifying in more ways than one. Give women filmmakers more movies to direct, please! One of my favorite films of the year, hands down.

October 28th. Mega Time Squad. More a time travel action comedy with some horror elements, I saw this silly one at this year's Ithaca Fantastik. I'm sure to see more from that festival.

Update on 31 Days of Horror

I've been pretty successful so far in my efforts to watch one horror film a day for the month of October. Since my last post about it, I've seen many more, and just want to give a quick catch up on what I have seen:

October 7th: Hell House LLC 2: Abaddon Hotel. This one had me on the edge of my seat. My 2 favorite subgenres are haunted places and found footage. This was both, and I think it surpassed the first one (which is also very good).

October 8th. Freaks. I haven't seen Tod Browning's masterpiece in at least 25 years, and it is still just a chilling as the first time I saw it.

October 9th. We Are Still Here. I watched this one with the Dr. and it we both jumped more than once. Eerie and atmospheric, this one will make you want to keep a light on .

October 10th. Deadly Blessing. Early Wes Craven dive into religious cult/occultism. It's a little dated and hokey, but delivers some effective scares. Plus, Sharon Stone eats a spider. Sort of.

October 11th. Eyes Without a Face. Again, the Dr. joined me for this one and it is truly a spectacular tale of horror. I feel like I have most often going back to oldies but goodies this year, but there is a reason. Most modern horror favors the cheap scare and the gratuitous gore. But this was ahead of its time, and is a taut thriller.

October 12th. Malevolent. Eh, this was fine.

October 13th The Amityville Horror. Oh, this movie, and James Brolin's perm.

October 14th. Tales of Halloween. This anthology was pretty fun.

October 15th. The Company of Wolves. Possibly the most stylish werewolf film I have ever seen. Plus, Angela Lansbury.

October 16th. Halloween. The Dr. had never seen it! I loved watching it with her, since I knew where the scares were, but dang if I don't notice something new every time I watch it! Love, love LOVE this classic.

October 17th. Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Sort of mockumentary style, and quite enjoyable.

October 18th. The Town that Dreaded Sundown. I have been meaning to watch this for years, and glad I finally did. Based on the Moonlight Murderer of the 40's, it really showed how a diabolical killer held an entire town in terror.

October 19th. Ghostwatch. Again, the Dr. watched with me and again, I knew where most of the scares were, but we both jumped more than once.

October 20th. Terrified (Aterrados). This gem from Argentina lives up to it's name. Very, very well made (sort of) ghost story with a crazy premise. Don't turn on that faucet!

More to come. Muwahahahahahahaha!

You Can Learn A Lot By How People Rank Movies

A couple days ago, a friend posted a list of how he thinks Quentin Tarantino's movies rank, and invited arguing in the comments. His list was as follows:

1. Jackie Brown 
2. Kill Bill v.2
3. Inglorious Bastards
4. Pulp Fiction
5. Kill Bill v.1
6. Reservoir Dogs
7. Death Proof
8. Hateful Eight
9. Django Unchained


"Arguing" commenced (his list is pretty much in line with my own, although I'd rank Death Proof higher, I really love that movie, but Jackie Brown in without a doubt in my mind, his best). Pretty quickly, though, I saw a pattern. Many of those who commented were white dudes. Many of them made statements like "Ugh, Jackie brown is terrible. Kill Bill meh. Death Proof is hot garbage". His best movie is Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs or Hateful 8 or Inglorious Bastards.

Sigh, white dudes. Pulp Fiction is an excellent film. Its great, few will argue. It helped turn cinema on its ear when it was released as being "original" (topic for another time) with some other films in the mid-90's. By the time QT got to Kill Bill it was all aboard the revenge train for the rest of his run. But of his first 3, Jackie Brown is a cut above for being a slick, well acted, clever who's-conning-who movie with a female lead. Make note of that, I am just getting warmed up, here.
Then, Kill Bill comes along and is a mash up of genre tributes, and while Jackie Brown is his finest film, I'd say The Bride from Kill Bill is his most iconic and fun to watch character. Kill Bill is a movie about characters, and for the most part, these characters are women. Getting revenge. There is so much revenge and lots and lots of blood.

Death Proof is also about women getting revenge, but in a souped up old sports car. It's crazy action that never slows down once it gets to speed, and has, as my mother puts it, "the most satisfying ending she has ever seen". 

Now, these 3 movies (I'm counting Kill Bill as one movie, here) have one thing the others don't: Women in the lead. And comment after comment in that thread made me think "WOW! what a crazy sociological experiment my friend has done, and how fucking sexist these white dudes are". But of course, they aren't sexist, right? I'm sure these guys all don't mean to point out that a movie isn't as good because it's simply inferior to a movie where, let's say Hateful 8, has a premise of a woman being transported to her own hanging, and she is punched and dragged along the way. Django Unchained and Inglorious Bastards sort of cancel each other out, but it's more of the macho revenge. And Reservoir Dogs, sigh. Wild, rapid fire dialogue and who's out to get who that was done so much better in Jackie Brown. Also, I am always suspicious folks who favor Reservoir Dogs  have that beat up VHS of Scarface hidden in their house they just can't let go of.

All this from a seemingly harmless ranking of films of a director who is a misogynist, who makes male gaze-y films. He's been accused of sexual assault (to no ones surprise, he was good buddies with Harvey Weinstein!) I know so many people who hate his movies and don't like him. But, you don't have to like his movies to see this in your face pattern of white guys disliking something because women are in the lead. Women speaking dialogue that is essentially the same dialogue men would have if they films were recast. Would these guys fel differently if instead of Pam Grier, Jackie Brown were about a dude played by, Samuel L Jackson? And maybe Pam Grier could be Ordell? Maybe Robert Forester is just his best friend since childhood who wants to help Jackie out, in a platonic way. No room for queerness in the world of QT (again, another topic for another blog).

I'm sure, of course, that all of the white dudes who rank these films low do it because, honestly, they just are not as good, it could not possibly be they are harboring these sexist leanings. Maybe they're subconscious? No, it must be that I am just wrong. I am just reading too far into it. I am making it up out of thin air the pattern of all these white dudes hating on films with great female leads (Death Proof is more about the action than the acting, this I will concede). 

So, I saw this, and I can't unsee it. I can just share it with you. I'm not saying run out and watch all these movies, either. But if you do watch any QT film, let it be his masterpiece. Jackie Brown. And think, really think, about why you do or do not care for it. 

31 Days of Horror

I have friends who watch a horror movie a day in October. It's a thing. A thing I have tried to do a few times, and I always seem to fall short. But, inspired by some of those friends, I am going to give it another go. I am off to a good start,and have a good partner-in-crime who wants to see some of the genre classics she has never seen before. Halloween, Evil Dead, The Howling, Eyes Without a Face- the Dr. and I have a pretty long spreadsheet (because, nerds), and I am excited to watch these films with someone who has never seen them before.

Oct. 1
I began with The Haunting, the original from 1963. I had just read Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which our library is promoting as this years community read. Check it out if you have never read it, it's quick and unsettling. Perfect for October! The Haunting is based on Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House. Shirley Jackson is a national treasure as far as I am concerned. Robert Wise's film version is best. Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Russ Tamblyn, and Richard Johnson are staying at Hill House, known to be haunted, in an effort to study the paranormal activity. Well, they didn't know what they were in for. This is the movie that all other haunted house movies can thank for making them popular as far as I am concerned (shout out to the original 13 Ghosts!) Hill House endures. Netflix is releasing a series based on the book on October 12th. Shirley Jackson is forever!


Oct 2.
Someone wrote a list of great horror films streaming in October, and it was a good list, but it included Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2. And I trash talked it. Then I felt guilty. Was it really as bad as I remembered it being? So, I watched it again. It is bad. It's just very gimmicky and isn't really scary.

Oct. 3.
The Axe Murders of Villisca kept getting recommended to me on Netflix. It had a script by Owen Egerton so I thought I'd give it a shot. Sort of Amityville Horror-esque twist on the story of the unsolved Axe murders in Villisca Iowa in 1912. Decent with some good jump scares.

Oct. 4.
I was intrigued by this movie which kept showing up on Shudder with a synopsis that read like a cold diss: "Two men in a secluded cabin are haunted by their dead relationship" COLD! Rokkur (Rift) is a tense, Icelandic thriller kept me on edge throughout, wondering what was going as I waited for the plot to unfold. Also, let me spell this out for you: Gay. Icelandic. Thriller. Seriously, this is one ghost story worth your time.

Oct 5.
I love giallo, even when its really sort of on the edge of actually being giallo. Stagefright (Deliria) was close enough for me. A theater troupe tries getting a show ready based on a local actor who has lost his mind and mutilated several local women. He escapes the mental hospital and ends up at the playhouse where the troupe is. Dun dun DUN!!!  There were a couple good scares and tense moments, but this one is fun for the oddball premise, the score, and the 80's style which is crammed into every frame.

Oct 6.
Last night the Dr. and I watched Cronenberg's Rabid. Neither of us had seen it and what a wild ride! Nobody does body horror like Cronenberg. Nobody. Also, Marilyn Chambers was pretty good as the Typhoid Mary of Montreal, giving people that infecting bite via her armpit. Treat yourself to this one if you've never seen it.

It's October 7th, and I'm not sure what I'll be watching later, but stay tuned, because I will let you know.

A Love Letter to Shudder

It may come as no surprise to anyone who reads my ramblings that October is my favorite month for the abundance of spooky movies available. There are the mainstream streams, boasting their Halloween favorites, But for me, Shudder has everyone else beat.

When I want Halloween horror, I usually want classics. And by classics I mean anything from the good old Universal Monsters, Hammer horrors, Hitchcockian delights, 70s and 80s slashers and spookers, to 90s genre re-injections like Scream and Audition. I want new stuff I feel like I am the first to discover.

I want Giallo! I want crazy A-Horror! I want Haunted houses! I want found footage creepers! I want zombies that just want to eat your braaaaaaaaaains! I want witches and satanists, especially if they ride motorcycles! I want aliens! I want scary episodic shows! I want movies about the movies! I want monsters! I want lesbian vampires! I want werewolves!

Full disclosure- I ALWAYS want werewolves.

I want Argento and Carpenter! I want Romero and Craven and Hooper! I want Scream Queens! I want jump scares! I want twists! I want to be eating my popcorn at the edge of my seat. I want all of this.

This is all right there for me on Shudder and I just want to say thanks. You make this long time horror fan very, very happy.