Horror

Oh, It’s Halloween: A Viewer’s Guide 2015

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BOO!

Scared yet? You should be! It’s almost Halloween, which means you should be psyching yourself up for your Halloween horror movie marathon. But which movies to watch? Rather than trying to come up with a fun list on your own, only to settle for the same shit you watch every year, why not let us decide for you? We’ve got a special list for you of all the scary movies we’re in the mood for right now. Not what we watched last year. Not what we’re gonna watch next year. Sounds good? You sure? Alright then.

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Film Review – Unfriended

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by Brian Surber

Unfriended is an unusual type of horror film. It’s unusual because it’s a mainstream horror film, being given a wide release, which feels so very independent (and it is, being made for $1 million).  It’s a specific premise that, on premise alone, doesn’t cater to conventions of its genre. It’s different. And in the midst of the supernatural ghosts/exorcism tenure of horror films that we are currently in, Unfriended feels like something that isn’t released in every theater. What that says about our current cinematic state is something I won’t get into but it is surprising. And it’s refreshing that this type of horror film exists and is playing nationwide. It also helps that Unfriended is pretty damn good.

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Film Review – It Follows

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by Brian Surber

The past few years have had at least one outstanding horror film: from 2009 on we’ve had The House of the Devil, Let Me In, You’re Next, The Cabin in the Woods, Evil Dead, and The Babadook.  I am pleased to say that this year we may have found our new addition. It Follows, while possibly steeped in social context, is elevated by its technical skill. This is a film that doesn’t cause nightmares; this is film that is birthed from them. It is the old school kind of horror film that is bent on making you frightfully uneasy the whole way through. The tension in It Follows does not build, it lurks.

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Film Review – The Babadook

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by Brian Surber

The thing missing from horror films is a human element. There are humans in it, to be sure, but they aren’t real. Most of the time characters in (bad) horror films are not fleshed out. They have one or two basic motives and they don’t stretch beyond what is needed of them as pawns. There can be and have been great horror films with characters that aren’t very interesting; The House of the Devil and Saw come to mind. Those films achieve their “greatness” status based on their technical artistic achievements. The Babadook, directed with gusto by newcomer Jennifer Kent, is so deeply rooted in character interest that it is elevated from not only the best horror film of the year but one of the best films of the year.

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