Ten Horror Movies Worth Seeing, #5: Black Water

October 8, 2018 in General Topics, Other Stuff

It’s one thing for a horror film to feature supernatural encounters or marauding monsters. It’s quite another when its antagonist is something Out There. Out There is that place where civilization gives way to an environment in which our comfortable status as nature’s apex predators is no longer certain. There’s something about that which assails our subconscious. We are as much outraged as in wonder.

Black Water takes Out There and subjects us to its possibilities. The bulk of this 2007 film is shot within perhaps twenty feet of a low-lying mangrove and a slow-moving section of Australian river. This works, because the Outback is the Australian Out There, and the Aussie wilds are home to a laundry list of the world’s deadliest species of animals. Australia has a transparent jellyfish the size of a fingernail that has been responsible for the deaths of multiple swimmers. It possesses the inland taipan, the world’s most venomous snake. And then there’s the saltwater crocodile. Read the rest of this entry →

Ten Horror Movies Worth Seeing, #4: A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

October 4, 2018 in General Topics, Other Stuff

We’ve covered wide-release films and indie darlings already in this series of reviews, but early on I promised some deep cuts (pun intended, given the subject matter), and it’s time to roll one out on the mortuary slab.

At first glance, there’s no earthly reason “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” should work. It’s yet another vampire movie–as if the genre wasn’t already saturated with them. It’s low budget. But the biggest potential demerit is that the film hails from an Iranian production company. Iran isn’t exactly known as a hub for creative expression, especially for works that feature a female lead. Read the rest of this entry →

Ten Horror Movies Worth Seeing, #3: It Follows

September 30, 2018 in General Topics, Other Stuff

Credit: IMDB

It Follows won wide acclaim, so I struggled with whether or not to include it in this series. But it’s just too damned good at what it sets out to do to leave out.

This is a film that burns into life in its first few minutes, demanding we respect its monster. Not since Jaws has something from this genre had such perfect establishing shots. The focus on the unnamed young woman and her grisly fate is performed via the art of subtraction, and wouldn’t have been unexpected from Hitchcock himself. Nothing is explained, but the stakes are made obvious, and our pulse is made to race. Read the rest of this entry →

Ten Horror Movies Worth Seeing, #2: Late Phases

September 24, 2018 in General Topics, Other Stuff

Credit: MPI Media Group

The first film I covered in this blog series, Oculus, was the stuff of subtle, creeping horror. Today’s film is much more overt, featuring a showdown between man and beast. I have to credit a friend and reader, Eric Stanley, with introducing me to it.

Last year Hush won acclaim for its portrayal of a deaf-mute author enduring a cat-and-mouse game against a psychopathic killer. For my money, though, Late Phases both provides a more interesting setup and scenario, as well as deadlier antagonists. Read the rest of this entry →

Ten Horror Movies Worth Seeing, #1: Oculus

September 19, 2018 in General Topics, Other Stuff

Horror films can be tough to sift through. Because this genre is (sadly) not as exposed to major awards in the same way that others are, viewers looking for a good scare are often left aimlessly searching the Internet or browsing streaming services. It’s a recipe for frustration. One can easily fall into trying one film after another before giving up and moving on to something else, like a vampire abandoning their quarry.

Since we’re coming up on October, my favorite month of the year and the one best-suited for exploring this under-appreciated genre, I thought I’d provide a list of such films that bite better than the rest of their brood. My focus will be on fairly recent films, with a preference for those that go off the well-bloodied path. I can wholeheartedly recommend each of these, and promise there’s a good chance you’ll get a good scare if you try them. They’re in no particular order. Join me through October as I present ten films sure to raise your pulse and have you nervous to step around the corner. Let’s get started. Read the rest of this entry →