With Halloween just around the corner, I’m making a list from what might be my favourite movie genre - spooky horror.
There are some classics I go back to every year, and there are some I’ve just discovered that will likely become Halloween traditions. This is a mix of all of them, in no particular order. Poltergeist Not the new one of course - the one from 1982, with innocent, cursed little Carol Ann talking to the ghost people in the tv static - the same ghost people who just ate her big brother with a tree. This 1982 hippie ghost story was officially directed by Tobe Hooper, but it was written, produced and supposedly mostly directed by Steven Spielberg, who was fresh off freaking out little kids with E.T. With Poltergeist, he made us all realize the folly of building a suburban paradise over a Native American burial ground. “You sunuvabitch, you moved the cemetery but you left the bodies, didn’t you! You only moved the headstoooonnes!! WHYYY!!!” Lesson learned. Talk to Me To keep you guessing, this is one I just saw last week. This Australian seance-on-a-spring-break spookfest was a hit in theatres this summer, and it’s the perfect choice if you’re looking for a brand new one for Halloween. There’s a hand, and… there’s a lot of ghosts… and there’s some good times, but there’s mostly gory-looking ghosts. I shouldn’t say more, except that it’s an instant classic. The Descent This is one I think about way too often, which first, means it’s great, and second, means I go back to it pretty much every year. It’s a terrifying premise - a bunch of buff adventure ladies take on a harrowing cave-exploring challenge in podunk Kentucky, home of the endless Mammoth Cave system, where we all know something truly dark lives down there somewhere. Well, these poor ladies find it. It’s a subterranean race of human-like killing machines with no eyes, and they’re relentless, and since our girls are in a cave, there’s nowhere to go but down. But my goodness, are they resilient. Both horrifying and inspiring - and incredible filmmaking on every level. The performances, the soundscape, the direction is all top notch and worth studying. Which is what I have to do to stop being terrified. Barbarian I saw this one in theatres last year - which is a chance to say that it’s so much better seeing scary movies in a dark movie theatre with an audience. This movie was fun, the perfect mix of horrifying and hilarious. Written and directed by Zach Cregger, this is an Airbnb worst nightmare scenario in the abandoned and derelict outskirts of Detroit. The tunnels beneath the home hide some truly depraved creatures, which, it turns out, may be exactly what the house’s owner deserves. Justin Long plays an L.A. actor slimeball who has to sell the Airbnb investment property to pay his legal fees. There’s an iconic scene where he measures the creepy passageways he finds beneath the house to up the square footage. For Tess, the poor woman who just wanted a place to stay for a job interview, the house is a relentless battering ram of awful things, with each one more awful than the one before. It’s a bizarre ride, but it’s a blast. Comments are closed.
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AuthorBardya Ziaian is a Toronto-based business executive, film producer, actor, and entrepreneur with specific expertise in the areas of Fintech, brokerage services, and financial systems. Archives
February 2023
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