For unexplained reasons, a woman undergoes plastic surgery. Goodnight Mommy (2014)Īustria?! The Sound of Music? No, Goodnight Mommy. A classic that still influences psychological and horror film directors to this day. ![]() Alone, in her apartment, the world comes crashing down on her. Catherine Deneuve’s performance is outstanding. All here, and not immediately evident how it all hangs together. Polanski’s though is the deeper, more challenging work. Both films feature an attractive blonde constantly trying to escape the clutches of sexually charged suitors, extended dialog-free scenes, and an impending sense of dread. In Roman Polanski’s earlier work Repulsion (1965) I see a bit of the magnificent (and under-appreciated) Carnival of Souls (1960). A mysterious book shows up on the doorstep. A mother is attempting to over-come grief, and trying to hang on to sanity while caring for her son. ![]() On first viewing The Babadook might seem fraught with cliche, turning far too often to bumps-in-the-night and scary music on queue. Instead writer-director David Robert Mitchell opts for an intelligent slow boil. What I like about It Follows, aside from its beautiful homage to ’80s horror and its stellar soundtrack, is its devoid of the jump scare. Soon we realize the “rules” - figuring out how to beat the system is half the fun, and keeps us riveted to the superb finale. Bailey Spry is our Jamie Lee Curtis, but instead of being hunted by an escaped lunatic, she’s chased by an unknown supernatural force. Thanks to an unusual hook It Follows may well lead the pack. Top 10: Clint’s Best Horror Films for Halloween It Follows (2014)Īs you can tell from this list, 2014 was a good year for horror films. With that, here’s my top 10 list of best horror films for Halloween. ![]() And mixing in new stuff, with some older films as well. But for this list I’m going a bit more obscure. If you haven’t seen any of those, then you absolutely must if you consider yourself a student of horror. I’m avoiding the easy, obvious picks - classics like The Shining, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Exorcist, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Carrie, Rosemary’s Baby, Alien, Psycho, Nosferatu. But I like my horror with some psychological depth. Director James Wan is no doubt talented and has an eye for pretty visuals. If you’re like me, you like sub-text, or at least a little. Plenty of innovative, multi-layered films like A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Babadook and It Follows have ensured that us fans of non jump-scare fare are satiated. It’s been a good past year or two for the horror genre.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |