O:9:"MagpieRSS":23:{s:6:"parser";i:0;s:12:"current_item";a:0:{}s:5:"items";a:10:{i:0;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:75:"Movie Monsters Through the Years: How Does Horror Reflect Historical Fears?";s:4:"link";s:129:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/movie-monsters-through-the-years-how-does-horror-reflect-historical-fears/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 18:10:39 +0000";s:8:"category";s:52:"Scream AwayfearsHistoricalHorrorMonstersMovieReflect";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69531";s:11:"description";s:720:"Horror movies, whether classified as “elevated” or made for mass appeal, are time-honored vehicles for social commentary. They often hold a metaphorical mirror up, mining the depths of more real-world traumas to explore as metaphors. As societal fears and unrest evolve, so do the main monsters or tropes. Here is how movie monsters mirrored real-life ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:30792:"
Horror movies, whether classified as “elevated” or made for mass appeal, are time-honored vehicles for social commentary. They often hold a metaphorical mirror up, mining the depths of more real-world traumas to explore as metaphors. As societal fears and unrest evolve, so do the main monsters or tropes. Here is how movie monsters mirrored real-life fears across the decades.
The 1930s Featured Vampires, Mummies and Xenophobia
As the Great Depression took hold, audiences hungered for an escape, from screwball comedies to immersive horror stories. Contrasting American normality against the supernatural allowed an outlet for daily anxiety onto something less close to home and more classically scary: monsters and insidious creatures pulled right from the pages of classic tales. Being scared of something on-screen is a safe way to allow the anxiety, stress and foreboding that already exists inside of an audience to be released, and the Depression was certainly a time when people had plenty of fear bottled up.
RELATED: What’s On Shudder: Movies & Series Coming In May 2022
At the same time, a more insidious and painfully real monster was also taking hold: xenophobia. The so-called “exotic” villains, mad scientists and vampires with foreign accents, were a manifestation of desperate times fostering an undercurrent of racism. After all, what was scarier than a foreign outsider preying on all-American (white) purity? Other movie monsters, such as mummies and their curses, took colonial guilt and extrapolated it onto the silver screen.
The 1940s Saw Wartime Violence and the Beasts Within
By the time the ’40s took hold, Americans and the world at large were trapped in the all-too-real horrors of manmade violence as World War II waged on. All of the horrors of wartime detoured society’s underlying fears from “othering” the monsters to exploring something a little more introspective: the monster within. Humanity’s own inner propensity for violence, a dormant beast just below the surface, was overtly explored with Lon Chaney Jr.’s iconic Wolf Man, striking a nerve with a world realizing in real-time how easily the violence of men could truly be unleashed.
The 1950s Spotlighted Nuclear Fears and Giant Mutant Dinosaurs
It’s not hard to trace the root of the fears in the ’50s. From omnipresent Cold War threats to the ongoing guilt of America dropping a nuclear bomb on Japan, the fallout manifested rather literally in mutant creatures and alien invasions, such as the huge, mutant ants in Them!. Godzilla rising from the seas of Japan, freshly radiated into power was a direct result of the true horror of nuclear bombing.
On the homefront, alien invasion movies, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to The Day the Earth Stood Still to the film adaptation of War of the Worlds, began pumping out, amplifying a double threat of uncertainties. Americans lived in daily fear of foreign threats, namely the Cold War and nuclear annihilation, not to mention the American government’s Communism phobia. At the same time, the space program was ramping up, and the unknowns of other planets were becoming more tangible. Who knew who or what the country might find out there beyond the stars?
RELATED: Why Dracula Daily Is One of the Best (& Most Unique) Adaptations of Dracula
The 1960s Tackled Civil Rights, General Uncertainty and the Grip of Racism
Societal unrest and tensions ran high as racist values clashed with progressive calls for civil rights in the ’60s. Protests and marches took up the call for racial equality, and Hollywood mined racial tensions for stories. Zombies, having roots in historically African voodoo traditions, began their rise to popularity in the 1960s. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was a gruesome masterclass in social realism and pointed to the dangers of mob mentality, be it through propaganda or brain-eating zombification. Scenes of police and K9 units aggressively searching for zombies looked purposefully similar to real-life cops tracking down civil rights activists. When Ben, the movie’s staunchly human protagonist, is mistaken by the police for a zombie and shot, they coldly shrug it off by saying: ”That’s another one for the fire.” The fact that the movie finished filming merely days before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was cruelly prescient.
Outside of the civil rights movement, this was a decade of profound uncertainty all around, with generational divides showing more clearly than ever. There were protests on the news, women were gaining autonomy over their lives, gayness was more openly discussed, and the younger generation was rebelling against the Vietnam War. Combine a generation of progressives with a loosening of censorship rules and that decade saw a rapid influx of horror movies that allowed audiences either an outlet to process all the change or worked as cautionary tales against betraying traditionalism.
Movies such as The Haunting took a skeptical and scientific eye to typical ghost stories while weirder, more surreal horror such as Carnival of Souls more overtly explored the nightmares of one’s own mind. By the end of the decade, movies like Rosemary’s Babyfor example, tackled women’s bodily autonomy and the reticence of the old guard and religious fanaticism to allow female empowerment.
RELATED: How the Slasher Is Reclaiming the Horror Genre, from X to Scream
The 1970s Revealed More Material Fears – Slashers and Serial Killers
Moving into the ’70s, fears became more based within the mortal realm. As the era of serial killers began, unspoken fears naturally centered on being the next unwitting victim of a homicidal maniac. Combine that with the general feeling that, after a decade of so much turmoil, the suburbs were no longer the idealized safe harbor of the American dream sold to nuclear families and the slasher genre was ripe for stardom. Female empowerment was again the base for cautionary tales, too, as the “have sex, get killed” stereotype took root. Demonic possessions and hauntings such as The Exorcist coincided with the uncertainty of societal upheaval, a pattern that would also repeat in the 2010s with a booming interest in The Conjuring films.
The 1980s Focused on Themes Surrounding Automation, Corporations and Aliens
Reagan-era America ushered in a whole new level of subconscious uneasiness. Increases in automation created fears of obsolescence, while the trickle-down corporation heaven of the ’80s created a looming threat of total Big Business control. AI villains such as in The Terminator spoke to universal fears of technology outpacing people, while blockbusters such as Ridley Scott’s Alien (released in 1979 and spawning a franchise into the 1980s) took the corporate overlords threat (the Company, a faceless corporate monolith at peace with sacrificing people in the name of quarterly goals) and magnified it into the vacuum of space.
RELATED: Doctor Strange 2 Isn’t the First Multiverse of Horror
The 1990s Waved In Riot Grrrl Feminism and Witchcraft
Grunge and new-wave feminism took hold in the 1990s, with everything from Daria‘s hyperintelligent yet cynical takes to the punk feminism subculture of Riot Grrrl. From left to right, girl power separated greatly from any male dependencies was coming in waves, and a patriarchal establishment was unsettled by women coming into full power. So naturally, witchcraft and witchy movies took over. While movies such as The Craft, The Blair Witch Project and The Crucible were cautionary tales meant to show the terrifying effects of female power (in the form of conjuring here) gone too far, other witch-starring movies like Practical Magic boldly spliced scares with emotional messages about the loving power found in sisterhood, female independence from men and traditionally sidelined domestic roles.
The 2000s were all but fully defined in America by the attacks of September 11th. That was a sobering loss of innocence for an entire nation, swiftly switching gears all around from the optimism and progression of the 1990s to a reactionary and anxious track. Horror movies reflected that change, too, shifting suddenly from the magical and the mystical to gruesome, hardened horror that could theoretically be played out at any time in real life.
In a post-9/11 world, people quickly became hardened, extremist and pessimistic as everything was heightened. Gory and violent “torture porn” films such as Saw or Hostel found great success as did found footage films. Watched by an audience so far removed from the event and helpless to do or know anything other than that a brutal, unhappy ending was in store, found footage reflected feelings of disconnect and alienation and the fear that we were ultimately doomed and alone, far removed from help, hope or the risk of emotional involvement. Extreme violence and found footage observations summed up an entire generation of the overwhelmed and disconnected.
RELATED: From Morbius to Venom to Godzilla: Why Critic & Fan Opinions Are So Different
The 2010s Hammered Home the Monster Is Us Theme
As audiences and storytellers moved into the 2010s, people’s biggest fears took another inward turn. The calls were coming from inside the house — the personified house. Were the real monsters humanity all along? Social commentary horror hit its greatest highs since Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone stories of the 1960s with auteurs like Jordan Peele carrying the torch into the pit of man’s fears. Get Out became an instant classic by tapping into more personal and cerebral fears, namely the sinister effects of sugar-coated, sly racism. And if the monsters weren’t our darker, crueler human selves, they were the grief we carried with us, such as in The Babadook.
The 2010s/2020s Transitioned to the Idea That the Monster Is Trauma
As we continue on through the later 2010s through the early 2020s of today, horror continues to creep inside of us. There is a new influx of ghost stories in tumultuous times, found in Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting anthologies or the sins of generations coming to a head in the Fear Street trilogy, representing collective fears of personal and generational pasts literally coming back to haunt. A Lynchian sense of dread pervades the landscape, rich with feelings of being trapped in a life people never envisioned for themselves, like the eerie claustrophobia of Vivarium.
What Jordan Peele’s Nope Actually Means (& It Isn’t an Acronym)
Read Next
About The Author
Kelsey Yoor (116 Articles Published)
Kelsey is a Boston & Baltimore-based Star Wars enthusiast, SVU aficionado, horror devotee and evangelist for sour candy. She has one young adult novel and a slight road trips problem. She can be found on IG: @itskelseyytime for weird travel, cheese and dog stories.
More From Kelsey Yoor
We wish to give thanks to the writer of this article for this amazing web content
";}s:7:"summary";s:720:"Horror movies, whether classified as “elevated” or made for mass appeal, are time-honored vehicles for social commentary. They often hold a metaphorical mirror up, mining the depths of more real-world traumas to explore as metaphors. As societal fears and unrest evolve, so do the main monsters or tropes. Here is how movie monsters mirrored real-life ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:30792:"
Horror movies, whether classified as “elevated” or made for mass appeal, are time-honored vehicles for social commentary. They often hold a metaphorical mirror up, mining the depths of more real-world traumas to explore as metaphors. As societal fears and unrest evolve, so do the main monsters or tropes. Here is how movie monsters mirrored real-life fears across the decades.
The 1930s Featured Vampires, Mummies and Xenophobia
As the Great Depression took hold, audiences hungered for an escape, from screwball comedies to immersive horror stories. Contrasting American normality against the supernatural allowed an outlet for daily anxiety onto something less close to home and more classically scary: monsters and insidious creatures pulled right from the pages of classic tales. Being scared of something on-screen is a safe way to allow the anxiety, stress and foreboding that already exists inside of an audience to be released, and the Depression was certainly a time when people had plenty of fear bottled up.
RELATED: What’s On Shudder: Movies & Series Coming In May 2022
At the same time, a more insidious and painfully real monster was also taking hold: xenophobia. The so-called “exotic” villains, mad scientists and vampires with foreign accents, were a manifestation of desperate times fostering an undercurrent of racism. After all, what was scarier than a foreign outsider preying on all-American (white) purity? Other movie monsters, such as mummies and their curses, took colonial guilt and extrapolated it onto the silver screen.
The 1940s Saw Wartime Violence and the Beasts Within
By the time the ’40s took hold, Americans and the world at large were trapped in the all-too-real horrors of manmade violence as World War II waged on. All of the horrors of wartime detoured society’s underlying fears from “othering” the monsters to exploring something a little more introspective: the monster within. Humanity’s own inner propensity for violence, a dormant beast just below the surface, was overtly explored with Lon Chaney Jr.’s iconic Wolf Man, striking a nerve with a world realizing in real-time how easily the violence of men could truly be unleashed.
The 1950s Spotlighted Nuclear Fears and Giant Mutant Dinosaurs
It’s not hard to trace the root of the fears in the ’50s. From omnipresent Cold War threats to the ongoing guilt of America dropping a nuclear bomb on Japan, the fallout manifested rather literally in mutant creatures and alien invasions, such as the huge, mutant ants in Them!. Godzilla rising from the seas of Japan, freshly radiated into power was a direct result of the true horror of nuclear bombing.
On the homefront, alien invasion movies, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to The Day the Earth Stood Still to the film adaptation of War of the Worlds, began pumping out, amplifying a double threat of uncertainties. Americans lived in daily fear of foreign threats, namely the Cold War and nuclear annihilation, not to mention the American government’s Communism phobia. At the same time, the space program was ramping up, and the unknowns of other planets were becoming more tangible. Who knew who or what the country might find out there beyond the stars?
RELATED: Why Dracula Daily Is One of the Best (& Most Unique) Adaptations of Dracula
The 1960s Tackled Civil Rights, General Uncertainty and the Grip of Racism
Societal unrest and tensions ran high as racist values clashed with progressive calls for civil rights in the ’60s. Protests and marches took up the call for racial equality, and Hollywood mined racial tensions for stories. Zombies, having roots in historically African voodoo traditions, began their rise to popularity in the 1960s. George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was a gruesome masterclass in social realism and pointed to the dangers of mob mentality, be it through propaganda or brain-eating zombification. Scenes of police and K9 units aggressively searching for zombies looked purposefully similar to real-life cops tracking down civil rights activists. When Ben, the movie’s staunchly human protagonist, is mistaken by the police for a zombie and shot, they coldly shrug it off by saying: ”That’s another one for the fire.” The fact that the movie finished filming merely days before the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was cruelly prescient.
Outside of the civil rights movement, this was a decade of profound uncertainty all around, with generational divides showing more clearly than ever. There were protests on the news, women were gaining autonomy over their lives, gayness was more openly discussed, and the younger generation was rebelling against the Vietnam War. Combine a generation of progressives with a loosening of censorship rules and that decade saw a rapid influx of horror movies that allowed audiences either an outlet to process all the change or worked as cautionary tales against betraying traditionalism.
Movies such as The Haunting took a skeptical and scientific eye to typical ghost stories while weirder, more surreal horror such as Carnival of Souls more overtly explored the nightmares of one’s own mind. By the end of the decade, movies like Rosemary’s Babyfor example, tackled women’s bodily autonomy and the reticence of the old guard and religious fanaticism to allow female empowerment.
RELATED: How the Slasher Is Reclaiming the Horror Genre, from X to Scream
The 1970s Revealed More Material Fears – Slashers and Serial Killers
Moving into the ’70s, fears became more based within the mortal realm. As the era of serial killers began, unspoken fears naturally centered on being the next unwitting victim of a homicidal maniac. Combine that with the general feeling that, after a decade of so much turmoil, the suburbs were no longer the idealized safe harbor of the American dream sold to nuclear families and the slasher genre was ripe for stardom. Female empowerment was again the base for cautionary tales, too, as the “have sex, get killed” stereotype took root. Demonic possessions and hauntings such as The Exorcist coincided with the uncertainty of societal upheaval, a pattern that would also repeat in the 2010s with a booming interest in The Conjuring films.
The 1980s Focused on Themes Surrounding Automation, Corporations and Aliens
Reagan-era America ushered in a whole new level of subconscious uneasiness. Increases in automation created fears of obsolescence, while the trickle-down corporation heaven of the ’80s created a looming threat of total Big Business control. AI villains such as in The Terminator spoke to universal fears of technology outpacing people, while blockbusters such as Ridley Scott’s Alien (released in 1979 and spawning a franchise into the 1980s) took the corporate overlords threat (the Company, a faceless corporate monolith at peace with sacrificing people in the name of quarterly goals) and magnified it into the vacuum of space.
RELATED: Doctor Strange 2 Isn’t the First Multiverse of Horror
The 1990s Waved In Riot Grrrl Feminism and Witchcraft
Grunge and new-wave feminism took hold in the 1990s, with everything from Daria‘s hyperintelligent yet cynical takes to the punk feminism subculture of Riot Grrrl. From left to right, girl power separated greatly from any male dependencies was coming in waves, and a patriarchal establishment was unsettled by women coming into full power. So naturally, witchcraft and witchy movies took over. While movies such as The Craft, The Blair Witch Project and The Crucible were cautionary tales meant to show the terrifying effects of female power (in the form of conjuring here) gone too far, other witch-starring movies like Practical Magic boldly spliced scares with emotional messages about the loving power found in sisterhood, female independence from men and traditionally sidelined domestic roles.
The 2000s were all but fully defined in America by the attacks of September 11th. That was a sobering loss of innocence for an entire nation, swiftly switching gears all around from the optimism and progression of the 1990s to a reactionary and anxious track. Horror movies reflected that change, too, shifting suddenly from the magical and the mystical to gruesome, hardened horror that could theoretically be played out at any time in real life.
In a post-9/11 world, people quickly became hardened, extremist and pessimistic as everything was heightened. Gory and violent “torture porn” films such as Saw or Hostel found great success as did found footage films. Watched by an audience so far removed from the event and helpless to do or know anything other than that a brutal, unhappy ending was in store, found footage reflected feelings of disconnect and alienation and the fear that we were ultimately doomed and alone, far removed from help, hope or the risk of emotional involvement. Extreme violence and found footage observations summed up an entire generation of the overwhelmed and disconnected.
RELATED: From Morbius to Venom to Godzilla: Why Critic & Fan Opinions Are So Different
The 2010s Hammered Home the Monster Is Us Theme
As audiences and storytellers moved into the 2010s, people’s biggest fears took another inward turn. The calls were coming from inside the house — the personified house. Were the real monsters humanity all along? Social commentary horror hit its greatest highs since Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone stories of the 1960s with auteurs like Jordan Peele carrying the torch into the pit of man’s fears. Get Out became an instant classic by tapping into more personal and cerebral fears, namely the sinister effects of sugar-coated, sly racism. And if the monsters weren’t our darker, crueler human selves, they were the grief we carried with us, such as in The Babadook.
The 2010s/2020s Transitioned to the Idea That the Monster Is Trauma
As we continue on through the later 2010s through the early 2020s of today, horror continues to creep inside of us. There is a new influx of ghost stories in tumultuous times, found in Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting anthologies or the sins of generations coming to a head in the Fear Street trilogy, representing collective fears of personal and generational pasts literally coming back to haunt. A Lynchian sense of dread pervades the landscape, rich with feelings of being trapped in a life people never envisioned for themselves, like the eerie claustrophobia of Vivarium.
What Jordan Peele’s Nope Actually Means (& It Isn’t an Acronym)
Read Next
About The Author
Kelsey Yoor (116 Articles Published)
Kelsey is a Boston & Baltimore-based Star Wars enthusiast, SVU aficionado, horror devotee and evangelist for sour candy. She has one young adult novel and a slight road trips problem. She can be found on IG: @itskelseyytime for weird travel, cheese and dog stories.
More From Kelsey Yoor
We wish to give thanks to the writer of this article for this amazing web content
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654193439;}i:1;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:85:"‘Dashcam’ review: MAGA, anti-vaxx rhetoric smother this found footage horror film";s:4:"link";s:133:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/dashcam-review-maga-anti-vaxx-rhetoric-smother-this-found-footage-horror-film/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 16:48:33 +0000";s:8:"category";s:68:"Scream AwayantivaxxDashcamFilmFootageHorrorMAGAREVIEWRhetoricsmother";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69489";s:11:"description";s:713:"Annie Hardy in DASHCAM. The new found footage horror film Dashcam dives head first into the controversy surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite one million people dying in the United States as a result of the virus, there are plenty who refuse to believe this health catastrophe is as severe as doctors and scientists have ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:6524:"
Annie Hardy in DASHCAM.
The new found footage horror film Dashcam dives head first into the controversy surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite one million people dying in the United States as a result of the virus, there are plenty who refuse to believe this health catastrophe is as severe as doctors and scientists have said. The film puts center stage a main character who embodies this divisive sentiment.
Sure, there are plenty of supernatural jump scares in Dashcambut perhaps the most horrifying aspect is the protagonist Annie, and the real danger her views and actions cause for herself and those around her. For some reason, the filmmakers have decided to make a MAGA-red-hat-wearing, anti-vaxx-believing, somewhat racist final girl their “heroine.” Is it satire? Is it the dreaded bothsidesism? Are they being controversial to spark a conversation? Whatever it is, the result is a movie with an overbearing, unlikeable main character who nearly sucks the air and thrills out of an otherwise scary film.
Directed by Rob Savage (Host), who co-wrote the screenplay with Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd, Dashcam tells the story of a musician named Annie who has been livestreaming with her fans as she drives around downtown Los Angeles. Annie, who is against the pandemic lockdowns and mitigation tactics, decides to escape to the U.K. to visit her old bandmate. Her anti-vaxx and anti-mask behavior soon causes chaos and tension. Annie decides to run off with her bandmate’s car and livestream herself doing rideshare deliveries around town but soon gets caught up with sinister supernatural forces who aim to take her soul. This shaky camera horror-filled adventure is of course livestreamed for us, the movie audience, and Annie’s fictional viewers.
Now, to be clear, I don’t think you have to love, or even like, a main character in order to enjoy a film. There are plenty of solid movies in the world where a main character is polarizing and has questionable morals, annoying quirks, or a downright evil personality. What often saves these types of movies is that these characters are not allowed to overshadow the storytelling. They often exist to serve a purpose in the story. It’s not about them, but what they represent. Such as Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal in Joker.
You know his trajectory is a doomed one, but the filmmaker, knowing we’ll have to spend so much time with his character, works to draw us in and get invested in his journey. Unfortunately, no such mechanism is used in Dashcam. Viewers are forced to stick close to Annie without the character earning the investment of the 77 minutes we’re made to watch her. If the choice was made to have a character so polarizing in order for viewers to sympathize with the “other side,” or find common ground, then the movie fails in that endeavor. Annie is aggressively bold with her views and we’re never really given a reason why. She destroys any chance of sympathy with her unrepentant tendency to ridicule others in her slur- and insult-riddled “songs” that she sings while driving.
That then leaves the idea that Annie’s story serves as a cautionary tale. Maybe through her constant mistakes and insensitivity we’re supposed to learn how not to act when it comes to political differences. I do feel that Annie’s character is so over the top and ridiculous as to drive home the irrationality of those who lean on conspiracy theories rather than facts. There are characters in the movie who counter her behavior, but they are often overpowered by Annie’s dialogue. There’s a subtle nod to the notion that in the end, no matter what, Annie’s actions will be the end of her, but it may be too little too late for an audience subjected to her exploits for over an hour-and-a-half.
Or perhaps Annie is really a test for the audience, to see whether we’re capable of caring for the life of a character that we may vehemently disagree with politically. Well, if that is the case, I failed the test because I came away not caring if Annie lives or dies. Then again, I don’t think anyone will care if this character lives or dies no matter where they land on the political spectrum. That’s not a failure in our humanity, but a failure in the storytelling.
A saving grace of the film lies in the effective horror scares. The action never really lets up once the supernatural plot kicks off. The sinister happenings are welcomed in that they give us a bit of a break from Annie when she’s too scared to say something offensive. Director Rob Savage, along with co-writers Hurley and Shepard, are no strangers to computer screen footage horror since they gave the world the superior movie Host in 2020. There are genuinely terrifying moments for those wanting a horror fix. The question is, will that be enough for viewers who won’t care for the main character?
Overall, Dashcam delivers a blood-soaked horror-filled ride, but it fails to supply the audience with an effective character worth taking it with.
Dashcam will be released on VOD and theatrically nationwide on June 3, 2022.
CONTRIBUTOR
We would like to thank the writer of this short article for this awesome web content
";}s:7:"summary";s:713:"Annie Hardy in DASHCAM. The new found footage horror film Dashcam dives head first into the controversy surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite one million people dying in the United States as a result of the virus, there are plenty who refuse to believe this health catastrophe is as severe as doctors and scientists have ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:6524:"
Annie Hardy in DASHCAM.
The new found footage horror film Dashcam dives head first into the controversy surrounding the COVID-19 global pandemic. Despite one million people dying in the United States as a result of the virus, there are plenty who refuse to believe this health catastrophe is as severe as doctors and scientists have said. The film puts center stage a main character who embodies this divisive sentiment.
Sure, there are plenty of supernatural jump scares in Dashcambut perhaps the most horrifying aspect is the protagonist Annie, and the real danger her views and actions cause for herself and those around her. For some reason, the filmmakers have decided to make a MAGA-red-hat-wearing, anti-vaxx-believing, somewhat racist final girl their “heroine.” Is it satire? Is it the dreaded bothsidesism? Are they being controversial to spark a conversation? Whatever it is, the result is a movie with an overbearing, unlikeable main character who nearly sucks the air and thrills out of an otherwise scary film.
Directed by Rob Savage (Host), who co-wrote the screenplay with Gemma Hurley and Jed Shepherd, Dashcam tells the story of a musician named Annie who has been livestreaming with her fans as she drives around downtown Los Angeles. Annie, who is against the pandemic lockdowns and mitigation tactics, decides to escape to the U.K. to visit her old bandmate. Her anti-vaxx and anti-mask behavior soon causes chaos and tension. Annie decides to run off with her bandmate’s car and livestream herself doing rideshare deliveries around town but soon gets caught up with sinister supernatural forces who aim to take her soul. This shaky camera horror-filled adventure is of course livestreamed for us, the movie audience, and Annie’s fictional viewers.
Now, to be clear, I don’t think you have to love, or even like, a main character in order to enjoy a film. There are plenty of solid movies in the world where a main character is polarizing and has questionable morals, annoying quirks, or a downright evil personality. What often saves these types of movies is that these characters are not allowed to overshadow the storytelling. They often exist to serve a purpose in the story. It’s not about them, but what they represent. Such as Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal in Joker.
You know his trajectory is a doomed one, but the filmmaker, knowing we’ll have to spend so much time with his character, works to draw us in and get invested in his journey. Unfortunately, no such mechanism is used in Dashcam. Viewers are forced to stick close to Annie without the character earning the investment of the 77 minutes we’re made to watch her. If the choice was made to have a character so polarizing in order for viewers to sympathize with the “other side,” or find common ground, then the movie fails in that endeavor. Annie is aggressively bold with her views and we’re never really given a reason why. She destroys any chance of sympathy with her unrepentant tendency to ridicule others in her slur- and insult-riddled “songs” that she sings while driving.
That then leaves the idea that Annie’s story serves as a cautionary tale. Maybe through her constant mistakes and insensitivity we’re supposed to learn how not to act when it comes to political differences. I do feel that Annie’s character is so over the top and ridiculous as to drive home the irrationality of those who lean on conspiracy theories rather than facts. There are characters in the movie who counter her behavior, but they are often overpowered by Annie’s dialogue. There’s a subtle nod to the notion that in the end, no matter what, Annie’s actions will be the end of her, but it may be too little too late for an audience subjected to her exploits for over an hour-and-a-half.
Or perhaps Annie is really a test for the audience, to see whether we’re capable of caring for the life of a character that we may vehemently disagree with politically. Well, if that is the case, I failed the test because I came away not caring if Annie lives or dies. Then again, I don’t think anyone will care if this character lives or dies no matter where they land on the political spectrum. That’s not a failure in our humanity, but a failure in the storytelling.
A saving grace of the film lies in the effective horror scares. The action never really lets up once the supernatural plot kicks off. The sinister happenings are welcomed in that they give us a bit of a break from Annie when she’s too scared to say something offensive. Director Rob Savage, along with co-writers Hurley and Shepard, are no strangers to computer screen footage horror since they gave the world the superior movie Host in 2020. There are genuinely terrifying moments for those wanting a horror fix. The question is, will that be enough for viewers who won’t care for the main character?
Overall, Dashcam delivers a blood-soaked horror-filled ride, but it fails to supply the audience with an effective character worth taking it with.
Dashcam will be released on VOD and theatrically nationwide on June 3, 2022.
CONTRIBUTOR
We would like to thank the writer of this short article for this awesome web content
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654188513;}i:2;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:66:"Free Horror Games – Six of the Best That You Can Play Right Now!";s:4:"link";s:117:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/free-horror-games-six-of-the-best-that-you-can-play-right-now/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 15:26:05 +0000";s:8:"category";s:26:"Scream AwayGamesHorrorPlay";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69479";s:11:"description";s:652:"Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:11414:"
Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They are releasing their first book, A Haunted Road Atlaswhich is filled with travel tips, beverage recommendations, haunted locations, and more. The guide also includes some of the country’s most notorious crime scenes and paranormal locations.
I was excited to have the opportunity to speak with co-author Em Schulz about their experiences with the supernatural, their favorite true crime/paranormal locations, A Haunted Road Atlasand more. Em is a member of The Ghost Club, the Society of Psychical Research, the Parapsychological Association, and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
Read on for my full interview with Em Schulz!
Bloody Disgusting: You and Christine Schiefer have an award-winning podcast called And That’s Why We Drink and the two of you are releasing your first book on May 31st, called A Haunted Road Atlas. How did you become involved with the paranormal and can you talk a little bit about your experiences as a paranormal investigator?
In Schulz: I’ve been interested in ghosts since I was a little kid. When I was seven, my grandfather passed and about a week after he passed, everyone in the family started having their own weird, independent experiences. My cousin had an experience a week after he died where she got a picture of him when he obviously shouldn’t have been there. My mom was seeing him in her dreams. When I was asleep in the middle of the night, I woke up to him sitting on the bed, and just kind of petting leg and smiling at me. The next day, I told my mom, “I’m going to grow up and be a ghost hunter,“ which weirdly, worked out. I think my mom was expecting that to not happen [laughs]. Growing up, I was really interested in anything spooky; I always wanted to go to haunted houses, or buildings, or do ghost tours when we were traveling.
When I got to college, I ended up becoming a ghost tour guide, which kind of was a pseudo-paranormal investigator start to my career. I was working in a museum across the street from this one building, and I went in there to ask if it was haunted. And I guess they thought I was asking for a job. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion because I just wanted to know some general ghost stuff on my lunch break, and I guess they read it as I was looking to start working for them. They did ghost tours and saw that I was interested and told me to come back Friday night and they paid me twenty bucks after the ghost tour. After that, each of my weekends during college was spent doing ghost tours with them, doing some set up with equipment beforehand, and doing my own little ghost hunts before our guests got there. Through that I got into the real ghost hunting world and then I did some volunteer groups as I moved around. I ended up in Boston for a while and did a volunteer group there, where I would investigate. That’s kind of how I broke into the world [laughs].
BD: Through your podcast, you have covered hundreds of cases involving everything from hauntings to alien abductions, and cryptids. Can you share your most unnerving paranormal experience or the scariest case you have investigated?
ES: When I was working as a ghost tour guide, I had some really scary experiences. I remember being upstairs by myself in an attic setting everything up before we had our guests come in. I had already turned the equipment on, and I was doing my own little ghost hunting stuff, since I had some time to kill. All of the sudden, I saw this big mass of solid black; you couldn’t see through it. It was like a shadow, and I heard a growl. I don’t really remember anything else. I don’t remember it coming near me or anything, but all of the sudden my hand started hurting and I had a big scratch on my hand for a while. That was really the only time I’ve been scratched by something or touched by something.
There was another time I was staying at a friend’s house, and she always said that the place seemed haunted, but she didn’t have any real proof. I was lying in bed, and I swear I felt something grab my butt [laughs]. It was like something cupped by butt while I was sleeping. I was sharing a bed and she was one of my childhood friends, so I thought she was trying to make a joke or something. So, I said, “Haha, very funny,” and when I looked over, she hadn’t even gotten in bed yet. There was an imprint on the blanket like someone had grabbed me. About two weeks later when she was moving out, she moved some of the furniture that had been in the building when she moved in, and there was a whole decomposition stain. So, it was kind of her final proof that someone had died in the building, and it was haunted.
BD: As I mentioned earlier, you and Christine have written your first book, A Haunted Road Atlas. The book is a guide to some of the country’s most infamous crime scenes and hauntings, and also includes recommendations for bars, restaurants, oddity museums, travel tips, and a lot more cool stuff! Out of all the locations in the book, do you have a favorite haunted location and a favorite crime scene and why?
ES: For a crime scene, it would also be a paranormal location because we write about the Cecil Hotel, which is huge in Los Angeles. I feel like a lot of people in the paranormal are aware of the Cecil Hotel, especially if you live near it. I would say it’s my favorite true crime and paranormal spot if I’m combing them, just because so much history happened there. It’s probably riddled with energy. But in terms of just paranormal, I actually haven’t been before. I actually discovered the location while I was writing this book and had never heard of it before.
Near Cincinnati, Ohio, there is a place called the Sedamsville Rectory and I’d never heard of it, but, wow, that is a scary place! I don’t know too much about its history, all I know is that while there were a few priests living there, they all seemed to have checkered pasts. There was one priest who was known for assaulting children, so there is a lot of negative energy there. One of the current owners is regularly getting possessed in the building. They’ve done a bunch of guest spots on television to talk about it and the owners are aware of what’s going on. It’s super spooky. As of the last time I checked, I think they were trying to turn it into an Airbnb. It works out pretty well if you’re into morbid tourism. That is a place I’m very interested in, but also never want to go to [laughs].
BD:A Haunted Road Atlas will be out on May 31st. Where can people buy it and are you working on anything new involving the paranormal?
ES: There are a few bookstores we’re going to do some book signings. We’re doing one in Cincinnati, we’re doing one in Boston. You can buy it online and my personal favorite is that it will be in Boston at The Strand. Boston is me and Christine’s combined hometown because that is where we met, so it’s a special city to us. As far as working on other projects, we don’t have anything in works right now in terms of books, but I guess it depends on how much people like this book. We’re definitely open to writing more. Maybe in the future this will be a series.
";}s:7:"summary";s:652:"Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:11414:"
Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They are releasing their first book, A Haunted Road Atlaswhich is filled with travel tips, beverage recommendations, haunted locations, and more. The guide also includes some of the country’s most notorious crime scenes and paranormal locations.
I was excited to have the opportunity to speak with co-author Em Schulz about their experiences with the supernatural, their favorite true crime/paranormal locations, A Haunted Road Atlasand more. Em is a member of The Ghost Club, the Society of Psychical Research, the Parapsychological Association, and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
Read on for my full interview with Em Schulz!
Bloody Disgusting: You and Christine Schiefer have an award-winning podcast called And That’s Why We Drink and the two of you are releasing your first book on May 31st, called A Haunted Road Atlas. How did you become involved with the paranormal and can you talk a little bit about your experiences as a paranormal investigator?
In Schulz: I’ve been interested in ghosts since I was a little kid. When I was seven, my grandfather passed and about a week after he passed, everyone in the family started having their own weird, independent experiences. My cousin had an experience a week after he died where she got a picture of him when he obviously shouldn’t have been there. My mom was seeing him in her dreams. When I was asleep in the middle of the night, I woke up to him sitting on the bed, and just kind of petting leg and smiling at me. The next day, I told my mom, “I’m going to grow up and be a ghost hunter,“ which weirdly, worked out. I think my mom was expecting that to not happen [laughs]. Growing up, I was really interested in anything spooky; I always wanted to go to haunted houses, or buildings, or do ghost tours when we were traveling.
When I got to college, I ended up becoming a ghost tour guide, which kind of was a pseudo-paranormal investigator start to my career. I was working in a museum across the street from this one building, and I went in there to ask if it was haunted. And I guess they thought I was asking for a job. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion because I just wanted to know some general ghost stuff on my lunch break, and I guess they read it as I was looking to start working for them. They did ghost tours and saw that I was interested and told me to come back Friday night and they paid me twenty bucks after the ghost tour. After that, each of my weekends during college was spent doing ghost tours with them, doing some set up with equipment beforehand, and doing my own little ghost hunts before our guests got there. Through that I got into the real ghost hunting world and then I did some volunteer groups as I moved around. I ended up in Boston for a while and did a volunteer group there, where I would investigate. That’s kind of how I broke into the world [laughs].
BD: Through your podcast, you have covered hundreds of cases involving everything from hauntings to alien abductions, and cryptids. Can you share your most unnerving paranormal experience or the scariest case you have investigated?
ES: When I was working as a ghost tour guide, I had some really scary experiences. I remember being upstairs by myself in an attic setting everything up before we had our guests come in. I had already turned the equipment on, and I was doing my own little ghost hunting stuff, since I had some time to kill. All of the sudden, I saw this big mass of solid black; you couldn’t see through it. It was like a shadow, and I heard a growl. I don’t really remember anything else. I don’t remember it coming near me or anything, but all of the sudden my hand started hurting and I had a big scratch on my hand for a while. That was really the only time I’ve been scratched by something or touched by something.
There was another time I was staying at a friend’s house, and she always said that the place seemed haunted, but she didn’t have any real proof. I was lying in bed, and I swear I felt something grab my butt [laughs]. It was like something cupped by butt while I was sleeping. I was sharing a bed and she was one of my childhood friends, so I thought she was trying to make a joke or something. So, I said, “Haha, very funny,” and when I looked over, she hadn’t even gotten in bed yet. There was an imprint on the blanket like someone had grabbed me. About two weeks later when she was moving out, she moved some of the furniture that had been in the building when she moved in, and there was a whole decomposition stain. So, it was kind of her final proof that someone had died in the building, and it was haunted.
BD: As I mentioned earlier, you and Christine have written your first book, A Haunted Road Atlas. The book is a guide to some of the country’s most infamous crime scenes and hauntings, and also includes recommendations for bars, restaurants, oddity museums, travel tips, and a lot more cool stuff! Out of all the locations in the book, do you have a favorite haunted location and a favorite crime scene and why?
ES: For a crime scene, it would also be a paranormal location because we write about the Cecil Hotel, which is huge in Los Angeles. I feel like a lot of people in the paranormal are aware of the Cecil Hotel, especially if you live near it. I would say it’s my favorite true crime and paranormal spot if I’m combing them, just because so much history happened there. It’s probably riddled with energy. But in terms of just paranormal, I actually haven’t been before. I actually discovered the location while I was writing this book and had never heard of it before.
Near Cincinnati, Ohio, there is a place called the Sedamsville Rectory and I’d never heard of it, but, wow, that is a scary place! I don’t know too much about its history, all I know is that while there were a few priests living there, they all seemed to have checkered pasts. There was one priest who was known for assaulting children, so there is a lot of negative energy there. One of the current owners is regularly getting possessed in the building. They’ve done a bunch of guest spots on television to talk about it and the owners are aware of what’s going on. It’s super spooky. As of the last time I checked, I think they were trying to turn it into an Airbnb. It works out pretty well if you’re into morbid tourism. That is a place I’m very interested in, but also never want to go to [laughs].
BD:A Haunted Road Atlas will be out on May 31st. Where can people buy it and are you working on anything new involving the paranormal?
ES: There are a few bookstores we’re going to do some book signings. We’re doing one in Cincinnati, we’re doing one in Boston. You can buy it online and my personal favorite is that it will be in Boston at The Strand. Boston is me and Christine’s combined hometown because that is where we met, so it’s a special city to us. As far as working on other projects, we don’t have anything in works right now in terms of books, but I guess it depends on how much people like this book. We’re definitely open to writing more. Maybe in the future this will be a series.
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654183565;}i:3;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:107:"Podcaster Em Schulz Talks Favorite Paranormal Locations and New Book ‘A Haunted Road Atlas’ [DEAD Time]";s:4:"link";s:155:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/podcaster-em-schulz-talks-favorite-paranormal-locations-and-new-book-a-haunted-road-atlas-dead-time/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:02:29 +0000";s:8:"category";s:86:"Scream AwayatlasbookdeadfavoriteHauntedLocationsParanormalPodcasterroadSchulzTalkstime";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69446";s:11:"description";s:772:"Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:11592:"
Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They are releasing their first book, A Haunted Road Atlaswhich is filled with travel tips, beverage recommendations, haunted locations, and more. The guide also includes some of the country’s most notorious crime scenes and paranormal locations.
I was excited to have the opportunity to speak with co-author Em Schulz about their experiences with the supernatural, their favorite true crime/paranormal locations, A Haunted Road Atlasand more. Em is a member of The Ghost Club, the Society of Psychical Research, the Parapsychological Association, and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
Read on for my full interview with Em Schulz!
Bloody Disgusting: You and Christine Schiefer have an award-winning podcast called And That’s Why We Drink and the two of you are releasing your first book on May 31st, called A Haunted Road Atlas. How did you become involved with the paranormal and can you talk a little bit about your experiences as a paranormal investigator?
In Schulz: I’ve been interested in ghosts since I was a little kid. When I was seven, my grandfather passed and about a week after he passed, everyone in the family started having their own weird, independent experiences. My cousin had an experience a week after he died where she got a picture of him when he obviously shouldn’t have been there. My mom was seeing him in her dreams. When I was asleep in the middle of the night, I woke up to him sitting on the bed, and just kind of petting leg and smiling at me. The next day, I told my mom, “I’m going to grow up and be a ghost hunter,“ which weirdly, worked out. I think my mom was expecting that to not happen [laughs]. Growing up, I was really interested in anything spooky; I always wanted to go to haunted houses, or buildings, or do ghost tours when we were traveling.
When I got to college, I ended up becoming a ghost tour guide, which kind of was a pseudo-paranormal investigator start to my career. I was working in a museum across the street from this one building, and I went in there to ask if it was haunted. And I guess they thought I was asking for a job. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion because I just wanted to know some general ghost stuff on my lunch break, and I guess they read it as I was looking to start working for them. They did ghost tours and saw that I was interested and told me to come back Friday night and they paid me twenty bucks after the ghost tour. After that, each of my weekends during college was spent doing ghost tours with them, doing some set up with equipment beforehand, and doing my own little ghost hunts before our guests got there. Through that I got into the real ghost hunting world and then I did some volunteer groups as I moved around. I ended up in Boston for a while and did a volunteer group there, where I would investigate. That’s kind of how I broke into the world [laughs].
BD: Through your podcast, you have covered hundreds of cases involving everything from hauntings to alien abductions, and cryptids. Can you share your most unnerving paranormal experience or the scariest case you have investigated?
ES: When I was working as a ghost tour guide, I had some really scary experiences. I remember being upstairs by myself in an attic setting everything up before we had our guests come in. I had already turned the equipment on, and I was doing my own little ghost hunting stuff, since I had some time to kill. All of the sudden, I saw this big mass of solid black; you couldn’t see through it. It was like a shadow, and I heard a growl. I don’t really remember anything else. I don’t remember it coming near me or anything, but all of the sudden my hand started hurting and I had a big scratch on my hand for a while. That was really the only time I’ve been scratched by something or touched by something.
There was another time I was staying at a friend’s house, and she always said that the place seemed haunted, but she didn’t have any real proof. I was lying in bed, and I swear I felt something grab my butt [laughs]. It was like something cupped by butt while I was sleeping. I was sharing a bed and she was one of my childhood friends, so I thought she was trying to make a joke or something. So, I said, “Haha, very funny,” and when I looked over, she hadn’t even gotten in bed yet. There was an imprint on the blanket like someone had grabbed me. About two weeks later when she was moving out, she moved some of the furniture that had been in the building when she moved in, and there was a whole decomposition stain. So, it was kind of her final proof that someone had died in the building, and it was haunted.
BD: As I mentioned earlier, you and Christine have written your first book, A Haunted Road Atlas. The book is a guide to some of the country’s most infamous crime scenes and hauntings, and also includes recommendations for bars, restaurants, oddity museums, travel tips, and a lot more cool stuff! Out of all the locations in the book, do you have a favorite haunted location and a favorite crime scene and why?
ES: For a crime scene, it would also be a paranormal location because we write about the Cecil Hotel, which is huge in Los Angeles. I feel like a lot of people in the paranormal are aware of the Cecil Hotel, especially if you live near it. I would say it’s my favorite true crime and paranormal spot if I’m combing them, just because so much history happened there. It’s probably riddled with energy. But in terms of just paranormal, I actually haven’t been before. I actually discovered the location while I was writing this book and had never heard of it before.
Near Cincinnati, Ohio, there is a place called the Sedamsville Rectory and I’d never heard of it, but, wow, that is a scary place! I don’t know too much about its history, all I know is that while there were a few priests living there, they all seemed to have checkered pasts. There was one priest who was known for assaulting children, so there is a lot of negative energy there. One of the current owners is regularly getting possessed in the building. They’ve done a bunch of guest spots on television to talk about it and the owners are aware of what’s going on. It’s super spooky. As of the last time I checked, I think they were trying to turn it into an Airbnb. It works out pretty well if you’re into morbid tourism. That is a place I’m very interested in, but also never want to go to [laughs].
BD:A Haunted Road Atlas will be out on May 31st. Where can people buy it and are you working on anything new involving the paranormal?
ES: There are a few bookstores we’re going to do some book signings. We’re doing one in Cincinnati, we’re doing one in Boston. You can buy it online and my personal favorite is that it will be in Boston at The Strand. Boston is me and Christine’s combined hometown because that is where we met, so it’s a special city to us. As far as working on other projects, we don’t have anything in works right now in terms of books, but I guess it depends on how much people like this book. We’re definitely open to writing more. Maybe in the future this will be a series.
";}s:7:"summary";s:772:"Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:11592:"
Welcome back to DEAD Time! This month, I got spooky with a new book about taking a haunted road trip and talked to one of the authors about their experiences with the paranormal. in Schulz and Christine Schiefer are the hosts of the wildly popular, award-winning, true crime/paranormal podcast And That’s Why We Drink. They are releasing their first book, A Haunted Road Atlaswhich is filled with travel tips, beverage recommendations, haunted locations, and more. The guide also includes some of the country’s most notorious crime scenes and paranormal locations.
I was excited to have the opportunity to speak with co-author Em Schulz about their experiences with the supernatural, their favorite true crime/paranormal locations, A Haunted Road Atlasand more. Em is a member of The Ghost Club, the Society of Psychical Research, the Parapsychological Association, and the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON).
Read on for my full interview with Em Schulz!
Bloody Disgusting: You and Christine Schiefer have an award-winning podcast called And That’s Why We Drink and the two of you are releasing your first book on May 31st, called A Haunted Road Atlas. How did you become involved with the paranormal and can you talk a little bit about your experiences as a paranormal investigator?
In Schulz: I’ve been interested in ghosts since I was a little kid. When I was seven, my grandfather passed and about a week after he passed, everyone in the family started having their own weird, independent experiences. My cousin had an experience a week after he died where she got a picture of him when he obviously shouldn’t have been there. My mom was seeing him in her dreams. When I was asleep in the middle of the night, I woke up to him sitting on the bed, and just kind of petting leg and smiling at me. The next day, I told my mom, “I’m going to grow up and be a ghost hunter,“ which weirdly, worked out. I think my mom was expecting that to not happen [laughs]. Growing up, I was really interested in anything spooky; I always wanted to go to haunted houses, or buildings, or do ghost tours when we were traveling.
When I got to college, I ended up becoming a ghost tour guide, which kind of was a pseudo-paranormal investigator start to my career. I was working in a museum across the street from this one building, and I went in there to ask if it was haunted. And I guess they thought I was asking for a job. I don’t know how they came to that conclusion because I just wanted to know some general ghost stuff on my lunch break, and I guess they read it as I was looking to start working for them. They did ghost tours and saw that I was interested and told me to come back Friday night and they paid me twenty bucks after the ghost tour. After that, each of my weekends during college was spent doing ghost tours with them, doing some set up with equipment beforehand, and doing my own little ghost hunts before our guests got there. Through that I got into the real ghost hunting world and then I did some volunteer groups as I moved around. I ended up in Boston for a while and did a volunteer group there, where I would investigate. That’s kind of how I broke into the world [laughs].
BD: Through your podcast, you have covered hundreds of cases involving everything from hauntings to alien abductions, and cryptids. Can you share your most unnerving paranormal experience or the scariest case you have investigated?
ES: When I was working as a ghost tour guide, I had some really scary experiences. I remember being upstairs by myself in an attic setting everything up before we had our guests come in. I had already turned the equipment on, and I was doing my own little ghost hunting stuff, since I had some time to kill. All of the sudden, I saw this big mass of solid black; you couldn’t see through it. It was like a shadow, and I heard a growl. I don’t really remember anything else. I don’t remember it coming near me or anything, but all of the sudden my hand started hurting and I had a big scratch on my hand for a while. That was really the only time I’ve been scratched by something or touched by something.
There was another time I was staying at a friend’s house, and she always said that the place seemed haunted, but she didn’t have any real proof. I was lying in bed, and I swear I felt something grab my butt [laughs]. It was like something cupped by butt while I was sleeping. I was sharing a bed and she was one of my childhood friends, so I thought she was trying to make a joke or something. So, I said, “Haha, very funny,” and when I looked over, she hadn’t even gotten in bed yet. There was an imprint on the blanket like someone had grabbed me. About two weeks later when she was moving out, she moved some of the furniture that had been in the building when she moved in, and there was a whole decomposition stain. So, it was kind of her final proof that someone had died in the building, and it was haunted.
BD: As I mentioned earlier, you and Christine have written your first book, A Haunted Road Atlas. The book is a guide to some of the country’s most infamous crime scenes and hauntings, and also includes recommendations for bars, restaurants, oddity museums, travel tips, and a lot more cool stuff! Out of all the locations in the book, do you have a favorite haunted location and a favorite crime scene and why?
ES: For a crime scene, it would also be a paranormal location because we write about the Cecil Hotel, which is huge in Los Angeles. I feel like a lot of people in the paranormal are aware of the Cecil Hotel, especially if you live near it. I would say it’s my favorite true crime and paranormal spot if I’m combing them, just because so much history happened there. It’s probably riddled with energy. But in terms of just paranormal, I actually haven’t been before. I actually discovered the location while I was writing this book and had never heard of it before.
Near Cincinnati, Ohio, there is a place called the Sedamsville Rectory and I’d never heard of it, but, wow, that is a scary place! I don’t know too much about its history, all I know is that while there were a few priests living there, they all seemed to have checkered pasts. There was one priest who was known for assaulting children, so there is a lot of negative energy there. One of the current owners is regularly getting possessed in the building. They’ve done a bunch of guest spots on television to talk about it and the owners are aware of what’s going on. It’s super spooky. As of the last time I checked, I think they were trying to turn it into an Airbnb. It works out pretty well if you’re into morbid tourism. That is a place I’m very interested in, but also never want to go to [laughs].
BD:A Haunted Road Atlas will be out on May 31st. Where can people buy it and are you working on anything new involving the paranormal?
ES: There are a few bookstores we’re going to do some book signings. We’re doing one in Cincinnati, we’re doing one in Boston. You can buy it online and my personal favorite is that it will be in Boston at The Strand. Boston is me and Christine’s combined hometown because that is where we met, so it’s a special city to us. As far as working on other projects, we don’t have anything in works right now in terms of books, but I guess it depends on how much people like this book. We’re definitely open to writing more. Maybe in the future this will be a series.
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654178549;}i:4;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:50:"9 Eco-Horror Movies That Show Nature Fighting Back";s:4:"link";s:106:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/9-eco-horror-movies-that-show-nature-fighting-back/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 12:40:51 +0000";s:8:"category";s:40:"Scream AwayecohorrorFightingMoviesnature";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69406";s:11:"description";s:644:"The rumors are true: we should, in fact, be taking better care of the earth. And if the real-life environmental consequences of our actions aren’t convincing enough, maybe it’s time to watch William Shatner get plowed over by a horde of tarantulas. Many beloved, more pensive films focus on the environment, including Wall-E, Bambiand Interstellar. ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:30937:"
The rumors are true: we should, in fact, be taking better care of the earth. And if the real-life environmental consequences of our actions aren’t convincing enough, maybe it’s time to watch William Shatner get plowed over by a horde of tarantulas. Many beloved, more pensive films focus on the environment, including Wall-E, Bambiand Interstellar. But sometimes a pensive film just won’t do. Sometimes, what you need is to watch the earth wreak bloody vengeance on its callous human inhabitants. The quality of the movies on this list varies wildly, from classics such as The Birdsto cerebral horror like Annihilationto absolute garbage such as The Happening. But whichever you choose, we promise that you’ll be highly entertained–and afterward, perhaps even a little worried to step outside.
RELATED: Best Disaster Movies of the 20th Century, From ‘The Towering Inferno’ to ‘Titanic’
Long Weekend (1978)
Image via Stage 6 Films
Please, if you and your better half are in a strained relationship, do not go on anything resembling a trip together. So many horror films warn us about this: Midsummer, Antichrist, The Shining, Long Weekend…the last of which is also a nice environmental revenge movie. Unhappily married Australian couple Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) go camping in an attempt to save their relationship. They commit various crimes against nature during the trip, including accidentally killing a kangaroo, breaking an eagle’s egg, killing a manatee-like animal called a dugong, killing some birds, and unnecessarily chopping at several trees. Soon, nature takes its revenge against them. Long Weekend is a deeply atmospheric film that’s genuinely creepy and unsettling. Since its release, it has become a beloved piece of cult cinema, despite its obscurity. Make sure to watch the original 1978 version instead of the 2008 remake.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY
Annihilation (2018)
Image via Paramount Pictures
Annihilation is one of those movies that, though unsettling at the moment that you are watching it, is even more disturbing in retrospect. The film follows Lena (Natalie Portman), a biologist and former soldier. Her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) volunteered with other soldiers to explore a zone called “The Shimmer,” or Area X, a strange alien domain that spread from a lighthouse after it was struck by a meteorite. Kane is the only one who survives his mission—or indeed the only one who has ever survived one of the many expeditions to the Shimmer. However, upon coming home, his health unexpectedly collapses, and he must be rushed to the hospital. Lena volunteers for the next expedition, which consists of other female scientists. Annihilation does an incredible job of world-building with its portrayal of Area X and each of the volunteer’s areas of scientific expertise. The Shimmer itself, and the havoc that it wreaks upon those who enter it, is additionally not only physical but psychological as well. This strange new world is beautiful but incredibly deadly. And though Annihilation doesn’t shy away from grotesque imagery, it’s these psychological horrors that ultimately make the film so effective—and which is the reason it has the capacity to stay with viewers for so long.
Day of the Animals (1977)
Image via Film Ventures International
This is the one where a bare-chested Leslie Nielsen gets eaten by a bear after challenging it to hand-to-hand (hand-to-paw?) combat. Nor are the bear and Mr. Nielsen the only creatures on a rampage: all animals in areas that are over 5,000 feet in altitude have suddenly become highly aggressive towards humans. Why? Because after the depletion of the Ozone layer, they have been exposed to too much UV radiation! Their wrath is our punishment for all that aerosol we’ve been emitting into the atmosphere. In The Day of the Animalsthe titular animals visit their anger upon a group of people out for a days-long nature hike led by Steve Buckner (Christopher George), who despite being warned by a local ranger (Walter Barnes) that there has recently been a lot of wildlife-related accidents, refuses to cancel the hike. This proves to be a fatal mistake as animals of different species work together to decimate the group. The 1970s birthed a considerable number of “nature’s revenge” movies that involve animals striking back against mankind for his damage to the environment; however, Leslie Nielsen elevates Day of the Animals above many other samples of its genre through a truly deranged performance that is by far the best part of the movie.
The Happening (2008)
Do not listen to the naysayers who condemn The Happening. Yes, it’s true; this is an awful movie. But it’s also hilarious and makes for a fabulous choice for a bad movie night, especially one in which, perchance, you may wish to celebrate the planet and cheer it on as it takes a weird, slightly nonsensical form of revenge on its human inhabitants. In The Happeninga strange new phenomenon is spreading through the Northeast (you could even say that it’s happening). A mysterious force is hypnotizing large groups of people into killing themselves. It turns out that the plants are to blame: they’re emitting an airborne toxin that affects humans’ brains, as a defense mechanism for all the terrible things that people have been doing to the earth. In the movie, the emission of this toxin manifests itself as gentle rustling. If the trees are waving slightly in the wind, gruesome and strangely elaborate deaths will follow. Despite the apparent speed with which Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel run from the softly blowing vegetation, it still amazes me that they and that child accompanying them survive the events of this movie.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Image via 20th Century Fox
If only the UN (and the Vice President of the United States) had listened to Dennis Quaid’s warnings! Then the world could have been saved from terrible climate disasters. Rated PG-13 for “intense situations of peril,” The Day After Tomorrowsets up very unrealistic expectations for how much power the UN and the Vice President would have against a quickly impending global ice age. Nevertheless, it is a very fun popcorn thriller, and the CGI is impressive, especially for its time. In a way, the film’s ridiculousness and more cliché elements are what make it as enjoyable as it is. We’re not here for disaster movies that make sense! We’re here to watch the world go insane. Paying too much attention to what is or isn’t realistic can only end in tears.
The Birds (1963)
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds is currently almost as famous for its controversy as it is for its significance to cinematic history. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the quintessential “nature’s revenge” movie, taking a wild, potentially cheesy concept and running with it to its natural conclusion to create an enjoyable and genuinely hair-raising thriller. Based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier (author of the classic novel Rebeccawhich Hitchcock also adapted), The Birds recounts the story of San Francisco socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hendren). Wanting to repay lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) for a practical joke, she drives to his weekend home in Bodega Bay. Soon after her arrival, the birds in the area begin to attack humans–and the attacks become increasingly deadly. Hitchcock’s film was additionally inspired by a real-life mass bird attack in 1961 in the town of Capitola, California. It was later discovered that the real birds’ behavior was caused by toxic algae.
The Last Winter (2006)
Image via IFC Films
In The Last Wintera group of environmentalists has an agreement with the government to monitor an American oil company as it builds an ice road in order to drill oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The leader of the environmentalists, James Hoffman (James the Big), is certain that the operation will bring destruction to the natural wilderness around them; he, therefore, clashes with the drilling crew’s chief, Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman), who is determined to finish the job. Mother Nature isn’t too happy with the oil company’s activities and soon wreaks havoc on the characters in the expression of her displeasure. This film divided critics and audiences, with the latter liking it considerably less than the former. Viewers especially expressed dissatisfaction with the ending which, in order that your potential disappointment may be as unsullied as possible, will not be spoiled here.
The Toxic Avenger (1984)
Image via Troma Entertainment
Honestly, based on the description, Toxic Avengerdoesn’t sound too promising. Yet somehow, it works, and The Toxic Avenger went on to become a cult favorite. When 98-pound nerd Melvin Ford Junko III (Mark Torgl) lands in a vat of toxic waste, he becomes “The Toxic Avenger,” the new superhero of Tromaville, New Jersey. This film is completely tongue-in-cheek, an intentionally bad masterclass in pulp cinema. Lloyd Kaufmanthe film’s co-director and founder of its production and distribution company, Troma Entertainment, had been an environmentalist for a long time. Many of the film’s themes match his concerns, and the New Jersey of The Toxic Avenger is tellingly riddled with garbage, chemicals, and toxic waste. The film proved iconic enough that it launched the reputation of Troma. A reboot of the original movie, starring Peter Dinklage, Willem Dafoe, Elijah Woodand Kevin Baconis set for release in 2022.
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
Image via Dimension Pictures
I can’t say I recommend Kingdom of the Spiders for anyone who’s afraid of spiders; the movie is literally crawling with them. Star Trek’s William Shatner stars as Rack Hansen, a veterinarian in Verde Valley, Arizona investigating the deaths of several farm animals. He and arachnologist Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) discover that killer tarantulas are to blame. Soon the spiders begin assaulting the local human population. This attack proves to be yet another form of “nature’s revenge”: the tarantulas are coming together in droves and attacking animals and humans because the overuse of pesticides has eradicated their natural food supply. Most frightening of all perhaps is that the tarantulas swarming all over William Shatner are all 100% real.
9 Best Horror Movies for Scaredy-Cats: From ‘Scream’ to ‘Happy Death Day’
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Oleńka Wellisz (15 Articles Published)
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We would love to say thanks to the writer of this short article for this incredible web content
";}s:7:"summary";s:644:"The rumors are true: we should, in fact, be taking better care of the earth. And if the real-life environmental consequences of our actions aren’t convincing enough, maybe it’s time to watch William Shatner get plowed over by a horde of tarantulas. Many beloved, more pensive films focus on the environment, including Wall-E, Bambiand Interstellar. ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:30937:"
The rumors are true: we should, in fact, be taking better care of the earth. And if the real-life environmental consequences of our actions aren’t convincing enough, maybe it’s time to watch William Shatner get plowed over by a horde of tarantulas. Many beloved, more pensive films focus on the environment, including Wall-E, Bambiand Interstellar. But sometimes a pensive film just won’t do. Sometimes, what you need is to watch the earth wreak bloody vengeance on its callous human inhabitants. The quality of the movies on this list varies wildly, from classics such as The Birdsto cerebral horror like Annihilationto absolute garbage such as The Happening. But whichever you choose, we promise that you’ll be highly entertained–and afterward, perhaps even a little worried to step outside.
RELATED: Best Disaster Movies of the 20th Century, From ‘The Towering Inferno’ to ‘Titanic’
Long Weekend (1978)
Image via Stage 6 Films
Please, if you and your better half are in a strained relationship, do not go on anything resembling a trip together. So many horror films warn us about this: Midsummer, Antichrist, The Shining, Long Weekend…the last of which is also a nice environmental revenge movie. Unhappily married Australian couple Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) go camping in an attempt to save their relationship. They commit various crimes against nature during the trip, including accidentally killing a kangaroo, breaking an eagle’s egg, killing a manatee-like animal called a dugong, killing some birds, and unnecessarily chopping at several trees. Soon, nature takes its revenge against them. Long Weekend is a deeply atmospheric film that’s genuinely creepy and unsettling. Since its release, it has become a beloved piece of cult cinema, despite its obscurity. Make sure to watch the original 1978 version instead of the 2008 remake.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY
Annihilation (2018)
Image via Paramount Pictures
Annihilation is one of those movies that, though unsettling at the moment that you are watching it, is even more disturbing in retrospect. The film follows Lena (Natalie Portman), a biologist and former soldier. Her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) volunteered with other soldiers to explore a zone called “The Shimmer,” or Area X, a strange alien domain that spread from a lighthouse after it was struck by a meteorite. Kane is the only one who survives his mission—or indeed the only one who has ever survived one of the many expeditions to the Shimmer. However, upon coming home, his health unexpectedly collapses, and he must be rushed to the hospital. Lena volunteers for the next expedition, which consists of other female scientists. Annihilation does an incredible job of world-building with its portrayal of Area X and each of the volunteer’s areas of scientific expertise. The Shimmer itself, and the havoc that it wreaks upon those who enter it, is additionally not only physical but psychological as well. This strange new world is beautiful but incredibly deadly. And though Annihilation doesn’t shy away from grotesque imagery, it’s these psychological horrors that ultimately make the film so effective—and which is the reason it has the capacity to stay with viewers for so long.
Day of the Animals (1977)
Image via Film Ventures International
This is the one where a bare-chested Leslie Nielsen gets eaten by a bear after challenging it to hand-to-hand (hand-to-paw?) combat. Nor are the bear and Mr. Nielsen the only creatures on a rampage: all animals in areas that are over 5,000 feet in altitude have suddenly become highly aggressive towards humans. Why? Because after the depletion of the Ozone layer, they have been exposed to too much UV radiation! Their wrath is our punishment for all that aerosol we’ve been emitting into the atmosphere. In The Day of the Animalsthe titular animals visit their anger upon a group of people out for a days-long nature hike led by Steve Buckner (Christopher George), who despite being warned by a local ranger (Walter Barnes) that there has recently been a lot of wildlife-related accidents, refuses to cancel the hike. This proves to be a fatal mistake as animals of different species work together to decimate the group. The 1970s birthed a considerable number of “nature’s revenge” movies that involve animals striking back against mankind for his damage to the environment; however, Leslie Nielsen elevates Day of the Animals above many other samples of its genre through a truly deranged performance that is by far the best part of the movie.
The Happening (2008)
Do not listen to the naysayers who condemn The Happening. Yes, it’s true; this is an awful movie. But it’s also hilarious and makes for a fabulous choice for a bad movie night, especially one in which, perchance, you may wish to celebrate the planet and cheer it on as it takes a weird, slightly nonsensical form of revenge on its human inhabitants. In The Happeninga strange new phenomenon is spreading through the Northeast (you could even say that it’s happening). A mysterious force is hypnotizing large groups of people into killing themselves. It turns out that the plants are to blame: they’re emitting an airborne toxin that affects humans’ brains, as a defense mechanism for all the terrible things that people have been doing to the earth. In the movie, the emission of this toxin manifests itself as gentle rustling. If the trees are waving slightly in the wind, gruesome and strangely elaborate deaths will follow. Despite the apparent speed with which Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel run from the softly blowing vegetation, it still amazes me that they and that child accompanying them survive the events of this movie.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Image via 20th Century Fox
If only the UN (and the Vice President of the United States) had listened to Dennis Quaid’s warnings! Then the world could have been saved from terrible climate disasters. Rated PG-13 for “intense situations of peril,” The Day After Tomorrowsets up very unrealistic expectations for how much power the UN and the Vice President would have against a quickly impending global ice age. Nevertheless, it is a very fun popcorn thriller, and the CGI is impressive, especially for its time. In a way, the film’s ridiculousness and more cliché elements are what make it as enjoyable as it is. We’re not here for disaster movies that make sense! We’re here to watch the world go insane. Paying too much attention to what is or isn’t realistic can only end in tears.
The Birds (1963)
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds is currently almost as famous for its controversy as it is for its significance to cinematic history. However, that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the quintessential “nature’s revenge” movie, taking a wild, potentially cheesy concept and running with it to its natural conclusion to create an enjoyable and genuinely hair-raising thriller. Based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier (author of the classic novel Rebeccawhich Hitchcock also adapted), The Birds recounts the story of San Francisco socialite Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hendren). Wanting to repay lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) for a practical joke, she drives to his weekend home in Bodega Bay. Soon after her arrival, the birds in the area begin to attack humans–and the attacks become increasingly deadly. Hitchcock’s film was additionally inspired by a real-life mass bird attack in 1961 in the town of Capitola, California. It was later discovered that the real birds’ behavior was caused by toxic algae.
The Last Winter (2006)
Image via IFC Films
In The Last Wintera group of environmentalists has an agreement with the government to monitor an American oil company as it builds an ice road in order to drill oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The leader of the environmentalists, James Hoffman (James the Big), is certain that the operation will bring destruction to the natural wilderness around them; he, therefore, clashes with the drilling crew’s chief, Ed Pollack (Ron Perlman), who is determined to finish the job. Mother Nature isn’t too happy with the oil company’s activities and soon wreaks havoc on the characters in the expression of her displeasure. This film divided critics and audiences, with the latter liking it considerably less than the former. Viewers especially expressed dissatisfaction with the ending which, in order that your potential disappointment may be as unsullied as possible, will not be spoiled here.
The Toxic Avenger (1984)
Image via Troma Entertainment
Honestly, based on the description, Toxic Avengerdoesn’t sound too promising. Yet somehow, it works, and The Toxic Avenger went on to become a cult favorite. When 98-pound nerd Melvin Ford Junko III (Mark Torgl) lands in a vat of toxic waste, he becomes “The Toxic Avenger,” the new superhero of Tromaville, New Jersey. This film is completely tongue-in-cheek, an intentionally bad masterclass in pulp cinema. Lloyd Kaufmanthe film’s co-director and founder of its production and distribution company, Troma Entertainment, had been an environmentalist for a long time. Many of the film’s themes match his concerns, and the New Jersey of The Toxic Avenger is tellingly riddled with garbage, chemicals, and toxic waste. The film proved iconic enough that it launched the reputation of Troma. A reboot of the original movie, starring Peter Dinklage, Willem Dafoe, Elijah Woodand Kevin Baconis set for release in 2022.
Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
Image via Dimension Pictures
I can’t say I recommend Kingdom of the Spiders for anyone who’s afraid of spiders; the movie is literally crawling with them. Star Trek’s William Shatner stars as Rack Hansen, a veterinarian in Verde Valley, Arizona investigating the deaths of several farm animals. He and arachnologist Diane Ashley (Tiffany Bolling) discover that killer tarantulas are to blame. Soon the spiders begin assaulting the local human population. This attack proves to be yet another form of “nature’s revenge”: the tarantulas are coming together in droves and attacking animals and humans because the overuse of pesticides has eradicated their natural food supply. Most frightening of all perhaps is that the tarantulas swarming all over William Shatner are all 100% real.
9 Best Horror Movies for Scaredy-Cats: From ‘Scream’ to ‘Happy Death Day’
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About The Author
Oleńka Wellisz (15 Articles Published)
More From Oleńka Wellisz
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We would love to say thanks to the writer of this short article for this incredible web content
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654173651;}i:5;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:87:"For Those About to Slash, We Salute You: 14 Military Horrors to Stream for Memorial Day";s:4:"link";s:141:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/for-those-about-to-slash-we-salute-you-14-military-horrors-to-stream-for-memorial-day/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 11:17:14 +0000";s:8:"category";s:54:"Scream AwaydayHorrorsMemorialmilitarysaluteSlashStream";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69329";s:11:"description";s:705:"War films are horror films, aren’t they? Both genres explore inevitable death intertwined with moral quandaries and are full of suspense. Come and See is often hailed as one of the scariest films and Son of Saul almost plays like a found footage in Auschwitz. There is a thin line between the two, but military ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:50460:"
War films are horror films, aren’t they? Both genres explore inevitable death intertwined with moral quandaries and are full of suspense. Come and See is often hailed as one of the scariest films and Son of Saul almost plays like a found footage in Auschwitz.
There is a thin line between the two, but military horror goes further by blending the literal and figurative. This hybrid subgenre repeatedly uses the zombie as the antagonist of choice, a reason identified by Scholar Kevin Wetmore in Post-9/11 Horror in American Cinema: “Zombies cannot be reasoned with, cannot be negotiated with, they seek only to replicate themselves, which also makes them an excellent metaphor for terrorists.”
That said, in recognition of Memorial Day here are 14 military horrors to choose from that aren’t all just about the undead. The POVs range from civilians trapped in military culture, teen cadets, facing barriers as a female pilot and the post-Vietnam grief endured by veterans and their families. Or, of course, if you just want to see giant alien bugs or werewolves blown to bits, that’s here too. Pour one out, sit back and enjoy.
Deathdream (1974) Director: Bob Clark
The Monkey’s Paw tale gets a Vietnam war setting in Deathdream AKA Dead of Night. After Andy Brooks (Richard Backus) is killed in action, a “death notification” is delivered to his parents and sister, portrayed by John Marley, Lynn Carlin and Anya Ormsby. The film shows the early work of Tom Savini (a Vietnam veteran himself), alongside Alan Ormsby, who also penned the script. The way it expresses the domestic challenges veterans and their families face upon homecoming is quite touching. Themes of grief, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction and an inability to meet the expectations of society and loved ones are told through the bloodthirsty ghoul. The final line cements the horrors of war and loss: “Andy’s home. Some boys never come home.” In 2010, it was announced to be remade under the title Zero Dark Thirty with director Paul Solet (Clean) revising a script by Stephen Susco (The Grudge), but there has been no updates on its status since. Deathdream streams on Tubi and ARROW.
Homecoming (2005) Director: Joe Dante
Aired as a part of Mick Garris’ Masters of Horror anthology, Homecoming is a pivot from the typical military zombie film where we root for the humans to survive. It’s an anti-war film and tribute to fallen service members. Without giving anything away, it shows zombies who want more than brains… an idea inspired by a film on this list, J’accuse (1919). Set during the war in Iraq, the story is told through the eyes of presidential speech writer David Murch (Jon Tenney). During a TV appearance, he tells a grieving mother, “If I had one wish… I would wish for your son to come back.” This statement accidentally summons the dead out of their American flag-covered caskets. It sounds heavy with its political stance, but the comedic and heartfelt elements make this a wholly unique and entertaining ride. Homecoming streams on Screambox, Tubi, CONtv, Fandor and Freevee.
Child’s Play 3 (1991) Director: Jack Bender
When one thinks of military horror, teen cadets are hardly the first to come to mind, but they absolutely count. The third installment of Child’s Play introduces us to Andy Barclay (Justin Whalin), now sixteen-years-old, attending Kent Military School while his mother is in psychiatric care. He’s seemingly safe from his least favorite doll of all time, Chucky (Brad Dourif), until he finds out Andy’s location. Chucky manipulates a young cadet named Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers) who rejects any warnings of danger. As anticipated, hell unleashes at the school. The film has been cited as the least favorite of Don Mancini, and generally by fans, but I argue that it’s undeserved. It’s an environment we rarely see and mirrors many of the mind games of boot camp on a smaller scale. Additionally, it’s the only film of the franchise that centers around teens, making it a nice precursor to the Chucky TV series that would come thirty years later. Child’s Play 3 streams on VOD.
Shadow in the Cloud (2020) Director: Roseanne Liang
Shadow in the Cloud surrounds World War II pilot Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) on a classified mission to deliver a package from New Zealand to Samoa. When she hitches a ride on a bomber plane, she faces discrimination and sexism from the male crew on board, who refuse to see her as an equal despite her accolades. The opening sets up what’s to come with a vintage cartoon of a gremlin, a folkloric creature said to be the source of malfunctioning aircrafts during the war. It also doubles as a figure of speech, when an unexplained problem or fault occurs. There’s an interesting chunk of the story that takes place in the Sperry Ball turret, a section of the plane where gunners operate machine guns, temporarily giving it the claustrophobic feeling of a one-location film. Shadow in the Cloud streams on Hulu.
Ravenous (1999) Director: Antonia Bird
During the Mexican-American war, Captain John Boyd (Guy Pearce) is sent to an isolated US. Army outpost after surviving enemy attack by playing dead. When a half-alive frostbitten man named Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) straggles into the area, he retells a story of his horrific escape from a Colonel-turned-cannibal in the mountains. The soldiers gear up and initiate a rescue mission with a memorable ensemble in Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones), Private Reich (Neal McDonough), Private Toffler (Jeremy Davies) and a Native American scout, George (Joseph Runningfox). When they arrive, the truth unfolds in a satisfying sequence that delivers gore, thrills and suspense. The film references the folklore of the Wendigo, who hungers for human flesh and possesses the strength of anyone they devour. It carries all the ingredients of a great Western horror flick and isn’t one to miss. Ravenous streams on VOD.
Body Snatchers (1993) Director: Abel Ferrara
As the fourth adaptation of Jack Finney’s novel Invasion of the Body Snatchers (with 2007’s Invasion to follow), the film places us at a Southern Army base. EPA chemist Steve Malone (Terry Kinney) is summoned to study toxic waste levels and brings along his daughter Marti (Gabrielle Anwar), son Andy (Reilly Murphy) and their stepmother, Carol (Meg Tilly). Other appearances include R. Lee Ermey (a Vietnam veteran before he became an actor) who acts as the base commander General Platt and Forest Whitaker as Dr. Collins. Soon enough, the soldiers’ peculiar behavior spread to other base inhabitants and tap into fears of whether or not people who they say they are. It’s the classic story we know and love, but this locale gives a peek into the daily norms of what it’s like to live within a military institution. Stuart Gordon, who co-wrote the script, was originally poised to direct before being replaced by Abel Ferrera. Body Snatchers streams on VOD.
Jacob’s Ladder (1990) Director: Adrian Lyne
Neither a success nor failure upon release, Jacob’s Ladder became one of the most influential military horror films to date, its legacy shown in the Silent Hill video games, American Horror Story: Asylum, The Sixth Sense and more. With Flashdance and Fatal Attraction recently under his belt at the time, Lyne pursued the film as a passion project. Jacob (Tim Robbins) is a Vietnam veteran suffering from dissociation, nightmarish visions, divorce, grief and a traumatizing experience in the war. Instead of being an exploitative commentary on a veteran’s psyche, it unfolds as a Francis Bacon painting turned fever dream. Mystery builds as the plot deepens, ultimately leading us towards a poetic ending. A remake helmed by David M. Rosenthal (How It Ends) was released in 2019, but received an underwhelming response. The original Jacob’s Ladder streams on Paramount+.
J’accuse! (1919)
Director: Abel Gance
While George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead set up the zombie archetype, it’s been said that J’accuse, a French silent film about the injustices of World War I, may have been the first to show the undead on screen. We meet Jean Diaz (Romuald Joubé) when his life is interrupted by war and witness his psychological transformation through the years. It is praised as one of the most technically advanced films of its time and one of the rare pacifist narratives. One of the cards read, “War kills as much the mothers as the sons.” Gance was drafted into the Army in 1917 and actually incorporated real battlefield footage into the film. It’s a bleak three hour journey split into two parts, examining the horrors of war with a fascinating sequence in the cemetery and visions of dancing skeletons. In 1938, Gance remade the film right before World War II. J’accuse streams on Kanopy.
The Ninth Configuration (1980) Director: William Peter Blatty
“I don’t think evil grows out of madness. I think madness grows out of evil.” From the author of The Exorcist comes a sophisticated directorial debut, who even planned this as a sequel. An adaptation of his novel Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, it features a heavyweight cast of character actors within a Gothic military mental asylum, including Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Tom Atkins, Robert Loggia, Ed Flanders and more. Another post-Vietnam film, we are met with Colonel Kane (Stacey Keach), a Marine sent to the asylum to observe the patients and verify if they are faking mental illness. It’s a psychological slow-burn with a twist that may leave many to wonder where the horror lies, but those patient will encounter a satisfying rise in tension that culminates into a haunting finale. The Ninth Configuration streams on Shudder and AMC+.
Dog Soldiers (2002) Director: Neil Marshall
Dog Soldiers follows British soldiers conducting a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands. This finds success in utilizing one of the more underrepresented creatures in the subgenre: the werewolf. The cast includes Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd and Liam Cunningham, as they battle against the tall, dark and fearsome lycanthropes. It nicely fits within the ranks of other action heavies like Aliens and Predator. Around the time of release, there were plans to have a sequel titled Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat with everyone from Andy Armstrong, Rob Green and M.J. Bassett in talks to direct, but the project was ultimately scrapped. However, in 2020, Marshall said that there’s still a chance of revival. In the meantime, the film celebrates its 20th Anniversary this November and had a behind-the-scenes book that was released on May 13. Dog Soldiers streams on VOD.
R-Point (2004) Director: Kong Su-chang
Described as Apocalypse Now meets Ringu, the film (re-released in 2011 under the title Ghosts of War) follows a South Korean squad in 1972 sent to Vietnam to find missing soldiers. If they can accomplish the mission in ten days, they’ll be rewarded with leave. With Lieutenant Choi (Woo-seong Kam) as their leader, the group encounter a mansion that miraculously appears in the night. The area begins to toy with their minds, eventually pitting them against each other and forcing them to question their own sanity. Interesting fact: the structure they shot in was a casino during the French colonization period. R-Point is a dark ghost story, but surprisingly has many moments of humor that carry you through the journey. R-Point streams on Kanopy.
Overlord (2018) Director: Julius Avery
Initially rumored to be the fourth film in the Cloverfield series, producer J.J. Abrams shut those down but promised that Overlord was “batshit crazy.” It takes place on the eve of D-Day as a group of American paratroopers crash land onto Nazi-occupied territory when their plane is attacked. The four who survive (Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, John Magaro and Iain De Caestecker), continue the mission to seek and destroy their enemy’s radio tower. It soon becomes apparent that truly inhumane experimentation is happening, and out come the Nazi super soldiers. A high octane and bloody alt-history film with gnarly special effects, this will satisfy cravings for a good time. The fantastic opening scene alone will be enough to grab your attention. Overlord streams on Paramount+ and FXNOW.
Starship Troopers (1997) Director: Paul Verhoeven
This bananas satire on the gung-ho institution of the military was critically panned upon release, but has since become a cult classic. Based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein, Verhoeven only read a few chapters, specifying it made him “bored and depressed.” It takes place in a future society, during an interstellar war against massive alien bugs. After graduating high school, a group of teens enlist in the Federation, portrayed by Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer and Neil Patrick Harris. They are forced to grow up fast and thrown into the fire of the Arachnids, who are described as a “perfect species.” It’s the military coming of age story we never got from John Hughes, touching on all the teen frustrations of romance, family, and friendship. Starship Troopers streams on HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix and Tubi.
Deathwatch (2002) Director: M.J. Bassett
It’s 1917 and a group of British soldiers are fatigued, hungry and wet through the perils of World War I. Upon finding an abandoned German trench, they set up camp and find that there’s an evil much worse than anything they’d come to expect. The cast includes Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Matthew Rhys, Laurence Fox and Kris Marshall, who deliver solid performances as soldiers facing mistrust and the area’s cruelty. For a low budget film and it being Bassett’s directorial debut, it boasts impressive production design, mood building and memorable scenes of horror that include barbed wire, rats and buckets of mud. Much of the nightmare imagery was inspired by author Cliff Graham’s Covenant of War. It almost feels like a period companion to the Silent Hill visual motif, which Bassett would fittingly go on to direct (Silent Hill: Revelation). Deathwatch streams on Tubi.
We would like to give thanks to the author of this short article for this remarkable content
";}s:7:"summary";s:705:"War films are horror films, aren’t they? Both genres explore inevitable death intertwined with moral quandaries and are full of suspense. Come and See is often hailed as one of the scariest films and Son of Saul almost plays like a found footage in Auschwitz. There is a thin line between the two, but military ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:50460:"
War films are horror films, aren’t they? Both genres explore inevitable death intertwined with moral quandaries and are full of suspense. Come and See is often hailed as one of the scariest films and Son of Saul almost plays like a found footage in Auschwitz.
There is a thin line between the two, but military horror goes further by blending the literal and figurative. This hybrid subgenre repeatedly uses the zombie as the antagonist of choice, a reason identified by Scholar Kevin Wetmore in Post-9/11 Horror in American Cinema: “Zombies cannot be reasoned with, cannot be negotiated with, they seek only to replicate themselves, which also makes them an excellent metaphor for terrorists.”
That said, in recognition of Memorial Day here are 14 military horrors to choose from that aren’t all just about the undead. The POVs range from civilians trapped in military culture, teen cadets, facing barriers as a female pilot and the post-Vietnam grief endured by veterans and their families. Or, of course, if you just want to see giant alien bugs or werewolves blown to bits, that’s here too. Pour one out, sit back and enjoy.
Deathdream (1974) Director: Bob Clark
The Monkey’s Paw tale gets a Vietnam war setting in Deathdream AKA Dead of Night. After Andy Brooks (Richard Backus) is killed in action, a “death notification” is delivered to his parents and sister, portrayed by John Marley, Lynn Carlin and Anya Ormsby. The film shows the early work of Tom Savini (a Vietnam veteran himself), alongside Alan Ormsby, who also penned the script. The way it expresses the domestic challenges veterans and their families face upon homecoming is quite touching. Themes of grief, post traumatic stress disorder, addiction and an inability to meet the expectations of society and loved ones are told through the bloodthirsty ghoul. The final line cements the horrors of war and loss: “Andy’s home. Some boys never come home.” In 2010, it was announced to be remade under the title Zero Dark Thirty with director Paul Solet (Clean) revising a script by Stephen Susco (The Grudge), but there has been no updates on its status since. Deathdream streams on Tubi and ARROW.
Homecoming (2005) Director: Joe Dante
Aired as a part of Mick Garris’ Masters of Horror anthology, Homecoming is a pivot from the typical military zombie film where we root for the humans to survive. It’s an anti-war film and tribute to fallen service members. Without giving anything away, it shows zombies who want more than brains… an idea inspired by a film on this list, J’accuse (1919). Set during the war in Iraq, the story is told through the eyes of presidential speech writer David Murch (Jon Tenney). During a TV appearance, he tells a grieving mother, “If I had one wish… I would wish for your son to come back.” This statement accidentally summons the dead out of their American flag-covered caskets. It sounds heavy with its political stance, but the comedic and heartfelt elements make this a wholly unique and entertaining ride. Homecoming streams on Screambox, Tubi, CONtv, Fandor and Freevee.
Child’s Play 3 (1991) Director: Jack Bender
When one thinks of military horror, teen cadets are hardly the first to come to mind, but they absolutely count. The third installment of Child’s Play introduces us to Andy Barclay (Justin Whalin), now sixteen-years-old, attending Kent Military School while his mother is in psychiatric care. He’s seemingly safe from his least favorite doll of all time, Chucky (Brad Dourif), until he finds out Andy’s location. Chucky manipulates a young cadet named Tyler (Jeremy Sylvers) who rejects any warnings of danger. As anticipated, hell unleashes at the school. The film has been cited as the least favorite of Don Mancini, and generally by fans, but I argue that it’s undeserved. It’s an environment we rarely see and mirrors many of the mind games of boot camp on a smaller scale. Additionally, it’s the only film of the franchise that centers around teens, making it a nice precursor to the Chucky TV series that would come thirty years later. Child’s Play 3 streams on VOD.
Shadow in the Cloud (2020) Director: Roseanne Liang
Shadow in the Cloud surrounds World War II pilot Maude Garrett (Chloë Grace Moretz) on a classified mission to deliver a package from New Zealand to Samoa. When she hitches a ride on a bomber plane, she faces discrimination and sexism from the male crew on board, who refuse to see her as an equal despite her accolades. The opening sets up what’s to come with a vintage cartoon of a gremlin, a folkloric creature said to be the source of malfunctioning aircrafts during the war. It also doubles as a figure of speech, when an unexplained problem or fault occurs. There’s an interesting chunk of the story that takes place in the Sperry Ball turret, a section of the plane where gunners operate machine guns, temporarily giving it the claustrophobic feeling of a one-location film. Shadow in the Cloud streams on Hulu.
Ravenous (1999) Director: Antonia Bird
During the Mexican-American war, Captain John Boyd (Guy Pearce) is sent to an isolated US. Army outpost after surviving enemy attack by playing dead. When a half-alive frostbitten man named Colqhoun (Robert Carlyle) straggles into the area, he retells a story of his horrific escape from a Colonel-turned-cannibal in the mountains. The soldiers gear up and initiate a rescue mission with a memorable ensemble in Colonel Hart (Jeffrey Jones), Private Reich (Neal McDonough), Private Toffler (Jeremy Davies) and a Native American scout, George (Joseph Runningfox). When they arrive, the truth unfolds in a satisfying sequence that delivers gore, thrills and suspense. The film references the folklore of the Wendigo, who hungers for human flesh and possesses the strength of anyone they devour. It carries all the ingredients of a great Western horror flick and isn’t one to miss. Ravenous streams on VOD.
Body Snatchers (1993) Director: Abel Ferrara
As the fourth adaptation of Jack Finney’s novel Invasion of the Body Snatchers (with 2007’s Invasion to follow), the film places us at a Southern Army base. EPA chemist Steve Malone (Terry Kinney) is summoned to study toxic waste levels and brings along his daughter Marti (Gabrielle Anwar), son Andy (Reilly Murphy) and their stepmother, Carol (Meg Tilly). Other appearances include R. Lee Ermey (a Vietnam veteran before he became an actor) who acts as the base commander General Platt and Forest Whitaker as Dr. Collins. Soon enough, the soldiers’ peculiar behavior spread to other base inhabitants and tap into fears of whether or not people who they say they are. It’s the classic story we know and love, but this locale gives a peek into the daily norms of what it’s like to live within a military institution. Stuart Gordon, who co-wrote the script, was originally poised to direct before being replaced by Abel Ferrera. Body Snatchers streams on VOD.
Jacob’s Ladder (1990) Director: Adrian Lyne
Neither a success nor failure upon release, Jacob’s Ladder became one of the most influential military horror films to date, its legacy shown in the Silent Hill video games, American Horror Story: Asylum, The Sixth Sense and more. With Flashdance and Fatal Attraction recently under his belt at the time, Lyne pursued the film as a passion project. Jacob (Tim Robbins) is a Vietnam veteran suffering from dissociation, nightmarish visions, divorce, grief and a traumatizing experience in the war. Instead of being an exploitative commentary on a veteran’s psyche, it unfolds as a Francis Bacon painting turned fever dream. Mystery builds as the plot deepens, ultimately leading us towards a poetic ending. A remake helmed by David M. Rosenthal (How It Ends) was released in 2019, but received an underwhelming response. The original Jacob’s Ladder streams on Paramount+.
J’accuse! (1919)
Director: Abel Gance
While George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead set up the zombie archetype, it’s been said that J’accuse, a French silent film about the injustices of World War I, may have been the first to show the undead on screen. We meet Jean Diaz (Romuald Joubé) when his life is interrupted by war and witness his psychological transformation through the years. It is praised as one of the most technically advanced films of its time and one of the rare pacifist narratives. One of the cards read, “War kills as much the mothers as the sons.” Gance was drafted into the Army in 1917 and actually incorporated real battlefield footage into the film. It’s a bleak three hour journey split into two parts, examining the horrors of war with a fascinating sequence in the cemetery and visions of dancing skeletons. In 1938, Gance remade the film right before World War II. J’accuse streams on Kanopy.
The Ninth Configuration (1980) Director: William Peter Blatty
“I don’t think evil grows out of madness. I think madness grows out of evil.” From the author of The Exorcist comes a sophisticated directorial debut, who even planned this as a sequel. An adaptation of his novel Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane, it features a heavyweight cast of character actors within a Gothic military mental asylum, including Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Tom Atkins, Robert Loggia, Ed Flanders and more. Another post-Vietnam film, we are met with Colonel Kane (Stacey Keach), a Marine sent to the asylum to observe the patients and verify if they are faking mental illness. It’s a psychological slow-burn with a twist that may leave many to wonder where the horror lies, but those patient will encounter a satisfying rise in tension that culminates into a haunting finale. The Ninth Configuration streams on Shudder and AMC+.
Dog Soldiers (2002) Director: Neil Marshall
Dog Soldiers follows British soldiers conducting a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands. This finds success in utilizing one of the more underrepresented creatures in the subgenre: the werewolf. The cast includes Sean Pertwee, Kevin McKidd and Liam Cunningham, as they battle against the tall, dark and fearsome lycanthropes. It nicely fits within the ranks of other action heavies like Aliens and Predator. Around the time of release, there were plans to have a sequel titled Dog Soldiers: Fresh Meat with everyone from Andy Armstrong, Rob Green and M.J. Bassett in talks to direct, but the project was ultimately scrapped. However, in 2020, Marshall said that there’s still a chance of revival. In the meantime, the film celebrates its 20th Anniversary this November and had a behind-the-scenes book that was released on May 13. Dog Soldiers streams on VOD.
R-Point (2004) Director: Kong Su-chang
Described as Apocalypse Now meets Ringu, the film (re-released in 2011 under the title Ghosts of War) follows a South Korean squad in 1972 sent to Vietnam to find missing soldiers. If they can accomplish the mission in ten days, they’ll be rewarded with leave. With Lieutenant Choi (Woo-seong Kam) as their leader, the group encounter a mansion that miraculously appears in the night. The area begins to toy with their minds, eventually pitting them against each other and forcing them to question their own sanity. Interesting fact: the structure they shot in was a casino during the French colonization period. R-Point is a dark ghost story, but surprisingly has many moments of humor that carry you through the journey. R-Point streams on Kanopy.
Overlord (2018) Director: Julius Avery
Initially rumored to be the fourth film in the Cloverfield series, producer J.J. Abrams shut those down but promised that Overlord was “batshit crazy.” It takes place on the eve of D-Day as a group of American paratroopers crash land onto Nazi-occupied territory when their plane is attacked. The four who survive (Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, John Magaro and Iain De Caestecker), continue the mission to seek and destroy their enemy’s radio tower. It soon becomes apparent that truly inhumane experimentation is happening, and out come the Nazi super soldiers. A high octane and bloody alt-history film with gnarly special effects, this will satisfy cravings for a good time. The fantastic opening scene alone will be enough to grab your attention. Overlord streams on Paramount+ and FXNOW.
Starship Troopers (1997) Director: Paul Verhoeven
This bananas satire on the gung-ho institution of the military was critically panned upon release, but has since become a cult classic. Based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein, Verhoeven only read a few chapters, specifying it made him “bored and depressed.” It takes place in a future society, during an interstellar war against massive alien bugs. After graduating high school, a group of teens enlist in the Federation, portrayed by Casper Van Dien, Denise Richards, Dina Meyer and Neil Patrick Harris. They are forced to grow up fast and thrown into the fire of the Arachnids, who are described as a “perfect species.” It’s the military coming of age story we never got from John Hughes, touching on all the teen frustrations of romance, family, and friendship. Starship Troopers streams on HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix and Tubi.
Deathwatch (2002) Director: M.J. Bassett
It’s 1917 and a group of British soldiers are fatigued, hungry and wet through the perils of World War I. Upon finding an abandoned German trench, they set up camp and find that there’s an evil much worse than anything they’d come to expect. The cast includes Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Matthew Rhys, Laurence Fox and Kris Marshall, who deliver solid performances as soldiers facing mistrust and the area’s cruelty. For a low budget film and it being Bassett’s directorial debut, it boasts impressive production design, mood building and memorable scenes of horror that include barbed wire, rats and buckets of mud. Much of the nightmare imagery was inspired by author Cliff Graham’s Covenant of War. It almost feels like a period companion to the Silent Hill visual motif, which Bassett would fittingly go on to direct (Silent Hill: Revelation). Deathwatch streams on Tubi.
We would like to give thanks to the author of this short article for this remarkable content
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654168634;}i:6;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:54:"Spotlight Interview on Production Designer Argya Sadan";s:4:"link";s:110:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/spotlight-interview-on-production-designer-argya-sadan/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 09:54:14 +0000";s:8:"category";s:57:"Scream AwayArgyaDesignerInterviewProductionSadanSpotlight";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69300";s:11:"description";s:641:"Originally on an architecture track in her native India, Argya Sadan pivoted to studying production design for film and television after being accepted at the AFI Conservatory. Following her graduation from AFI in 2017, Argya was selected by The Art Directors Guild for its 2017 Production Design Initiative and was a finalist for the Television ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:11858:"
Originally on an architecture track in her native India, Argya Sadan pivoted to studying production design for film and television after being accepted at the AFI Conservatory. Following her graduation from AFI in 2017, Argya was selected by The Art Directors Guild for its 2017 Production Design Initiative and was a finalist for the Television Academy Internship Program the same year. Her thesis film LITTLE DARLING also received a Gold Award for Production Design at the 2018 International Independent Film Awards.
She continues to amass a diverse body of film and TV credits, including most recently working as a set designer on the acclaimed HBO Max series WINNING TIME: THE RISE OF THE LAKERS DYNASTY. Her upcoming work includes Olivia Wilde’s psychological thriller DON’T WORRY DARLING, the rock ‘n’ roll miniseries DAISY JONES AND THE SIX based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel and David Fincher’s THE KILLER adapted from Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel series of the same name.
We spoke with Argya about the huge undertaking of recreating The Forum arena on a soundstage for WINNING TIME, working with cinematographer and fellow AFI Alum Todd Banhazl (AFI Class of 2009) and what she learned most about production design at the AFI Conservatory.
AFI: What inspired you to transition from architecture which you did your undergraduate degree in to production design at AFI?
Argya: Eight years ago, I was finishing up architecture school, and I was interning at a bunch of places. I worked for about a year before starting to apply to grad school in architecture itself. And when I was doing that, I just couldn’t push myself to complete those applications. I felt like it was something I couldn’t do for the rest of my life, but I knew I didn’t want to waste five years of studying, so I started looking up things to do with my degree and my skillset.
I was looking into stage design for fashion shows and film as well. Sitting in India, sitting in Bangalore, I googled a lot, just trying to find out how to get into production design. But not many schools have specific production design programs and it also had to be somewhere that I could apply to while having no film background. I came into the MFA program at AFI knowing the construction part of it, but for me, I needed the practical experience on set. I had to learn how to collaborate, how to work with a cinematographer and a director and how to figure out how those conversations are had.
The only connection my father had to the film world was he had a friend whose son, Varun Viswanath, was studying editing at the Conservatory. And that’s how I found AFI. So I looked into the program and immediately I was like, oh my god, if I’m going to do film, it has to be at this school because it was everything I was looking for in terms of all the cycle films you make as students. I didn’t need to go through more coursework. For me, it was learning the lingo, how each department is set up, what all the roles are and what the hierarchy on set is.
AFI: What did you learn at the AFI Conservatory that you still use while working in the industry?
Argya: I think my favorite classes at AFI were the ones where we had Faculty who were part of the industry who would come in after their day jobs. They just gave such great insight into how it actually is working in the industry because I had no exposure to that. They were talking to us in terms of how it would be in reality rather than in a simulated environment.
Also, the field trips that we took to go on set and see how production design worked on these big budget TV shows was great. We got to observe the BROOKLYN NINE-NINE set, and I had no idea the scale of the lots like Universal and Warner Bros. And now I don’t get intimidated by walking into a prop house to go get set dec for any project I’m on. I took the most away from the hands-on, practical learning experience I received over anything that I read in a book.
AFI: How did you prep for WINNING TIME? What kind of research did you do to be able to capture the ‘80s time period, as well as the world of professional basketball?
Argya: WINNING TIME is so specific to that time period and that energy that was there around the Lakers. To prep, I watched a lot of that ESPN documentary series 30 FOR 30. There were three episodes that focused on the battle between the Celtics versus the Lakers. We watched hours and hours of that documentary and read a lot of materials.
We usually go on location and speak to people who’ve been in that specific world. Even the production designer was from that time, so he grew up watching that rivalry and he knew how to capture that moment in time. Since I’m like a lot younger and I didn’t grow up in the U.S., I spoke with him, talked to the construction team – a lot of the crew had gone to the games – and they had first-hand stories to tell about what they had witnessed. I also went through the archives, looking at photos of how The Forum would have looked in the sixties, how it was in ’74, how it was in the eighties. And that’s all from photos because we were never allowed access to The Lakers’ official files or to go there and actually take measurements, so we had to work a lot from our imaginations.
AFI: What went into recreating The Forum Arena as a set?
Argya: The major challenge was you can never capture the scale of The Forum in a soundstage, so we spent a lot of time working with the visual effects team on WINNING TIME. We had a lot of conversations as to how we could make the set look bigger and like a stadium that could appeared to hold 70,000 people when we barely had 500 to 600 extras. The visual effects had to seamlessly blend with the actual built set. And so that took a lot of strategizing and research.
AFI: What was it like collaborating with fellow AFI Alum and cinematographer Todd Banhazl?
Argya: Since The Forum was the biggest set in the entire show, Todd really wanted to get a handle on how best to shoot it. I had made a 3-D model of the set using Rhino software and did a walk through with Todd. It was really helpful for him to get an idea of how it was going to look through the lens, how high he wanted to keep the camera, what he was able to get within the frame and how much we would need visual effects to complete a shot. There were a lot of budget conversations as well because of how large that set was.
AFI: What did you love most about working on WINNING TIME and what did you find to be the greatest hurdle while working on the project?
Argya: It was challenging, but it was very satisfying in its own way because of how massive the set was, and I also loved the way they shot it. I think what Todd did is something that not a lot of shows are doing because they were bringing in vintage cameras. I also saw a behind-the-scenes clip of the Steadicam operator on rollerblades for some of the basketball court scenes which was really fun to watch and see it all come to life.
Also, there are just so many people who are fans of these teams, so to see their reaction after watching the show has been great. There are not a lot of scripts I read when I’m doing a job where I’m like, “where’s the next script?” And this was definitely one of those series where the moment a script would hit my desk, I would be reading it. And that was exciting. I think it’s really entertaining, and I truly love the show.
AFI: Your upcoming projects are very eclectic from DON’T WORRY DARLING to DAISY JONES AND THE SIX to THE KILLING. Can you talk about how you transition from such different projects and were able to get in the right mindset?
Argya: For me, I’ve always been very careful not to get stuck in one genre. It’s like a deep fear of mine that if I do a comedy, I’ll keep getting called back for like rom coms or if I do a horror film, I’ll keep getting called back for scary movies. I’m also aware that I’m still at the beginning of my career, and I want to have a diverse portfolio. Every project is so different, but you can also learn so much more from jumping between genres. It’s not scary to me. It’s more exciting than anything because it’s like a whole other level of research. For example, going into a romcom, you might use a certain color palette. You make it peppy, fun and cheerful. Once you know the formula, you can keep applying it over and over again. But I think I’m just trying to learn the formula for each kind of genre right now which is really fun.
AFI: What advice would you share with current AFI production design Fellows who are just starting out?
Argya: My biggest advice would be to keep in touch with people and reach out to individuals who inspire you and who you see as a role model. I definitely did a lot of cold calling when I was first starting out. It was like, ok, who do I respect? Who do I love? And who do I want to learn from? I made a list that might have seemed far-fetched but decided I’m hitting them up.
If you stay in touch with people, they know how you work, and they’re just waiting for the right moment to give you that opportunity. I do that quite a bit. I reach out once in a while to people who have really had an impact on me. And I’m always grateful for that, especially that first job and the person giving me a chance to be a part of the union and making me a set designer. I’m still in touch with that contact because I’m so grateful for that job and the chance they took on me.
Another piece of great advice someone once gave me at AFI was if someone connects you to someone and says, “hey, this is a person you should meet,” whether they can help you or not, you should ask that person to recommend two to three other people to talk to. It’s kind of like a chain reaction, so that if that initial connection doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not just a dead end. And when you ask for advice, people love to advise. Everybody’s been where you are, and there are people who want to help you out. You just have to find the right connection.
We would love to thank the writer of this post for this awesome material
";}s:7:"summary";s:641:"Originally on an architecture track in her native India, Argya Sadan pivoted to studying production design for film and television after being accepted at the AFI Conservatory. Following her graduation from AFI in 2017, Argya was selected by The Art Directors Guild for its 2017 Production Design Initiative and was a finalist for the Television ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:11858:"
Originally on an architecture track in her native India, Argya Sadan pivoted to studying production design for film and television after being accepted at the AFI Conservatory. Following her graduation from AFI in 2017, Argya was selected by The Art Directors Guild for its 2017 Production Design Initiative and was a finalist for the Television Academy Internship Program the same year. Her thesis film LITTLE DARLING also received a Gold Award for Production Design at the 2018 International Independent Film Awards.
She continues to amass a diverse body of film and TV credits, including most recently working as a set designer on the acclaimed HBO Max series WINNING TIME: THE RISE OF THE LAKERS DYNASTY. Her upcoming work includes Olivia Wilde’s psychological thriller DON’T WORRY DARLING, the rock ‘n’ roll miniseries DAISY JONES AND THE SIX based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel and David Fincher’s THE KILLER adapted from Alexis Nolent’s graphic novel series of the same name.
We spoke with Argya about the huge undertaking of recreating The Forum arena on a soundstage for WINNING TIME, working with cinematographer and fellow AFI Alum Todd Banhazl (AFI Class of 2009) and what she learned most about production design at the AFI Conservatory.
AFI: What inspired you to transition from architecture which you did your undergraduate degree in to production design at AFI?
Argya: Eight years ago, I was finishing up architecture school, and I was interning at a bunch of places. I worked for about a year before starting to apply to grad school in architecture itself. And when I was doing that, I just couldn’t push myself to complete those applications. I felt like it was something I couldn’t do for the rest of my life, but I knew I didn’t want to waste five years of studying, so I started looking up things to do with my degree and my skillset.
I was looking into stage design for fashion shows and film as well. Sitting in India, sitting in Bangalore, I googled a lot, just trying to find out how to get into production design. But not many schools have specific production design programs and it also had to be somewhere that I could apply to while having no film background. I came into the MFA program at AFI knowing the construction part of it, but for me, I needed the practical experience on set. I had to learn how to collaborate, how to work with a cinematographer and a director and how to figure out how those conversations are had.
The only connection my father had to the film world was he had a friend whose son, Varun Viswanath, was studying editing at the Conservatory. And that’s how I found AFI. So I looked into the program and immediately I was like, oh my god, if I’m going to do film, it has to be at this school because it was everything I was looking for in terms of all the cycle films you make as students. I didn’t need to go through more coursework. For me, it was learning the lingo, how each department is set up, what all the roles are and what the hierarchy on set is.
AFI: What did you learn at the AFI Conservatory that you still use while working in the industry?
Argya: I think my favorite classes at AFI were the ones where we had Faculty who were part of the industry who would come in after their day jobs. They just gave such great insight into how it actually is working in the industry because I had no exposure to that. They were talking to us in terms of how it would be in reality rather than in a simulated environment.
Also, the field trips that we took to go on set and see how production design worked on these big budget TV shows was great. We got to observe the BROOKLYN NINE-NINE set, and I had no idea the scale of the lots like Universal and Warner Bros. And now I don’t get intimidated by walking into a prop house to go get set dec for any project I’m on. I took the most away from the hands-on, practical learning experience I received over anything that I read in a book.
AFI: How did you prep for WINNING TIME? What kind of research did you do to be able to capture the ‘80s time period, as well as the world of professional basketball?
Argya: WINNING TIME is so specific to that time period and that energy that was there around the Lakers. To prep, I watched a lot of that ESPN documentary series 30 FOR 30. There were three episodes that focused on the battle between the Celtics versus the Lakers. We watched hours and hours of that documentary and read a lot of materials.
We usually go on location and speak to people who’ve been in that specific world. Even the production designer was from that time, so he grew up watching that rivalry and he knew how to capture that moment in time. Since I’m like a lot younger and I didn’t grow up in the U.S., I spoke with him, talked to the construction team – a lot of the crew had gone to the games – and they had first-hand stories to tell about what they had witnessed. I also went through the archives, looking at photos of how The Forum would have looked in the sixties, how it was in ’74, how it was in the eighties. And that’s all from photos because we were never allowed access to The Lakers’ official files or to go there and actually take measurements, so we had to work a lot from our imaginations.
AFI: What went into recreating The Forum Arena as a set?
Argya: The major challenge was you can never capture the scale of The Forum in a soundstage, so we spent a lot of time working with the visual effects team on WINNING TIME. We had a lot of conversations as to how we could make the set look bigger and like a stadium that could appeared to hold 70,000 people when we barely had 500 to 600 extras. The visual effects had to seamlessly blend with the actual built set. And so that took a lot of strategizing and research.
AFI: What was it like collaborating with fellow AFI Alum and cinematographer Todd Banhazl?
Argya: Since The Forum was the biggest set in the entire show, Todd really wanted to get a handle on how best to shoot it. I had made a 3-D model of the set using Rhino software and did a walk through with Todd. It was really helpful for him to get an idea of how it was going to look through the lens, how high he wanted to keep the camera, what he was able to get within the frame and how much we would need visual effects to complete a shot. There were a lot of budget conversations as well because of how large that set was.
AFI: What did you love most about working on WINNING TIME and what did you find to be the greatest hurdle while working on the project?
Argya: It was challenging, but it was very satisfying in its own way because of how massive the set was, and I also loved the way they shot it. I think what Todd did is something that not a lot of shows are doing because they were bringing in vintage cameras. I also saw a behind-the-scenes clip of the Steadicam operator on rollerblades for some of the basketball court scenes which was really fun to watch and see it all come to life.
Also, there are just so many people who are fans of these teams, so to see their reaction after watching the show has been great. There are not a lot of scripts I read when I’m doing a job where I’m like, “where’s the next script?” And this was definitely one of those series where the moment a script would hit my desk, I would be reading it. And that was exciting. I think it’s really entertaining, and I truly love the show.
AFI: Your upcoming projects are very eclectic from DON’T WORRY DARLING to DAISY JONES AND THE SIX to THE KILLING. Can you talk about how you transition from such different projects and were able to get in the right mindset?
Argya: For me, I’ve always been very careful not to get stuck in one genre. It’s like a deep fear of mine that if I do a comedy, I’ll keep getting called back for like rom coms or if I do a horror film, I’ll keep getting called back for scary movies. I’m also aware that I’m still at the beginning of my career, and I want to have a diverse portfolio. Every project is so different, but you can also learn so much more from jumping between genres. It’s not scary to me. It’s more exciting than anything because it’s like a whole other level of research. For example, going into a romcom, you might use a certain color palette. You make it peppy, fun and cheerful. Once you know the formula, you can keep applying it over and over again. But I think I’m just trying to learn the formula for each kind of genre right now which is really fun.
AFI: What advice would you share with current AFI production design Fellows who are just starting out?
Argya: My biggest advice would be to keep in touch with people and reach out to individuals who inspire you and who you see as a role model. I definitely did a lot of cold calling when I was first starting out. It was like, ok, who do I respect? Who do I love? And who do I want to learn from? I made a list that might have seemed far-fetched but decided I’m hitting them up.
If you stay in touch with people, they know how you work, and they’re just waiting for the right moment to give you that opportunity. I do that quite a bit. I reach out once in a while to people who have really had an impact on me. And I’m always grateful for that, especially that first job and the person giving me a chance to be a part of the union and making me a set designer. I’m still in touch with that contact because I’m so grateful for that job and the chance they took on me.
Another piece of great advice someone once gave me at AFI was if someone connects you to someone and says, “hey, this is a person you should meet,” whether they can help you or not, you should ask that person to recommend two to three other people to talk to. It’s kind of like a chain reaction, so that if that initial connection doesn’t go anywhere, it’s not just a dead end. And when you ask for advice, people love to advise. Everybody’s been where you are, and there are people who want to help you out. You just have to find the right connection.
We would love to thank the writer of this post for this awesome material
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654163654;}i:7;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:79:"40 Scariest Horror Villains – Best Horror Movie Villains – Global Circulate";s:4:"link";s:127:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/40-scariest-horror-villains-best-horror-movie-villains-global-circulate/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 08:30:30 +0000";s:8:"category";s:53:"Scream AwayCirculateglobalHorrorMovieScariestVillains";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69272";s:11:"description";s:693:"Even when the weather is hot, there’s nothing like a good scare to give you literal chills. It doesn’t need to be Spooky Szn TM, I’ve become convinced that scary-movie villains are hiding around every corner waiting to jump out and kill me. I have Halloween on the brain constantly; it pretty much seeps into ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:91996:"
Even when the weather is hot, there’s nothing like a good scare to give you literal chills. It doesn’t need to be Spooky Szn TM, I’ve become convinced that scary-movie villains are hiding around every corner waiting to jump out and kill me. I have Halloween on the brain constantly; it pretty much seeps into every nook and cranny of my psyche. I’m never not sourcing inspo for my costume, TBH. Sometimes you just need a classic horror flick.
As we all know, a scary movie lives or dies (but mostly dies a horrible death) by its villain. I don’t know about you, but watching a deranged serial killer run, walk, slink, or crawl across my screen sounds like the perfect way to get end a tough week. Here are the scariest horror movie villains to terrorize the big screen/serve as your Halloween costume vision board and/or sleep paralysis demons.
1. Dean, Missy, and Jeremy Armitage, Get Out
Get Out
The entire Armitage family in Get Out is terrifying and freaking psychotic. They possess the kind of passive, manipulative creepiness that absolutely fucks with your head and sends shivers through your whole body. That and the fact that they embody the insidious racism our country was built on.
2. Steve, Fresh
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
It’s only my biggest fear that I’ll hit it off with some guy only to end up chained up in his basement (and not in a fun and/or consensual way). This movie just gets wilder, scarier, and more twisted as it goes on! Sebastian Stan is so much of a charming everyman that it makes his villainous turn that much more likely to haunt you for weeks.
3. Audrey II, Little Shop of Horrors
Murray CloseGetty Images
Don’t feed the plants.
4. Patrick Bateman, American Psycho
Hulton ArchiveGetty Images
Nostalgia for the ’80s hits differently when you’re watching one of its most iconic characters commit brutal murders with a Rembrandt smile. The fact that Bateman’s killing may or may not be happening in his head makes him somehow scarier. If even he doesn’t know what’s real…do you?
5. Frank-N-Furter, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Movie Poster Image ArtGetty Images
Tim Curry is so campy, sexy, and entertaining in the cult musical that you forget he’s actually pretty friggin’ evil, tries to kill almost all of the characters, and is ultimately defeated at the end of the movie. Just because this twist on the “car broke down outside a spooky mansion” trope includes a dance-off doesn’t make the stakes any lower.
6. Lucille Sharpe, Crimson Peak
Legendary Pictures
Spoiler alert: though he’s played many villains in his career, Tom Hiddleston is not the villain Crimson Peak. It’s his character’s sister and her creepy incest vibes that you need to watch out for in Guillermo Del Toro’s film.
7. Godzilla and/or King Kong
Warner Bros.
They’re such classic horror movies that we even love to see them fight each other!
8. Jennifer, Jennifer’s Body
20th Century Studios
This underrated film is fuh-in-ah-lly getting the praise and recognition that it deserves. It’s such a good campy horror movie. Megan Fox is incredible as the villain. It’s funny and feminist and so freaking good. If you’re a f*ckboy, you should be scared of her.
9. Men, Men
Kevin Baker/A24
Okay, so there are actually a few specific and terrifying characters in the A24 film who would technically be classified as “the villain” in a more traditional sense. One of them is based on “The Green Man” from folklore, which also popped up in a recent-ish season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. But it’s just men, right? It’s always just men.
10. The Facility, Cabin in the Woods
Lionsgate
Monsters and jump scares are a dime a dozen in this spooky comedy, and any one of them is likely to shake you to your very core. The film’s “big bad” is an organization of corporate types who gleefully sacrifice young people and bet on which gore-filled horror will get them first. Somehow these heartless dweebs are the scariest of all. (That said, special shoutout to the Merman, always.)
11. Vivian Tyrell, Vampires vs. The Bronx
Broadway Video
Well…*pushes glasses up nose* the real villain is gentrification, but who better to represent that than the white girl who is new to the neighborhood and just so happens to be a bloodthirsty vampire? It’s not as subtle as Get Out, but since when has horror ever aimed for subtly?
12. Mama, Mama
Youtube
A possessed, demonic, and spidery creature, this controlling mother is none too pleased when her two young daughters are adopted—even though she abandoned them in the woods for, um, five years. So she does what any mother would do: she terrorizes and tortures everyone, including her! own! children!
13. Carrie White, Carrie
New York Times
You could argue that Carrie White is actually the victim in this story. But just because her murdering rampage is kinda warranted doesn’t mean it’s not also horrifying as hell.
14. The Thing, The Thing
Machine Mean
No one knows exactly what the Thing is in John Carpenter’s 1982 classic sci-fi horror film. Because there’s really no better name for a slimy conglomeration of limbs and hands and teeth than the Thing.
15. Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Warner Brothers
Not gonna lie, any time a movie shows someone getting shaved by a straight razor my blood turns to ice. It’s 100 percent because of this musical.
16. The Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Now, do I love that Elizabeth Olsen’s Marvel hero made such a dramatic villainous turn after seemingly getting closure in WandaVision? Not really! But that’s where we’re at, and I was delightfully spooked by all of the gruesome ways she magically murdered people in the movie.
17. Seth Brundle, The Fly
Bloody Disgusting
Seth Brundle was just your typical crazy mad scientist trying to impress a girl with a supposed breakthrough invention. Until the experiment took a very different course…one that involves Brundle slowly morphing into a human-sized fly creature that’s just as gross as it sounds.
18. Henry, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Filmmaker Magazine
Michael Rooker’s harrowing performance as serial killer Henry Lee Lucas is deeply, deeply disturbing. You know this is based on a true story of a real-life murderer, right? Do not, I repeat, do *not* watch this alone at night.
19. Anna Ivers, The Uninvited
Tumblr
I don’t want to give away too much butttttt the movie revolves around Anna, who has been in a psych ward for nearly a year following the death of her terminally ill mother. In this psychological thriller, it’s unclear what’s real and what’s a hallucination until the very, very end—at which point, one last twist awaits you.
20. Brahms, The Boy
Bloody Disgusting
Why do we let little kids play with dolls and pretend like they aren’t the scariest things ever?!?!? Brahms is a creepy, life-like doll who terrorizes anyone who comes in contact with him. Thanks Hollywood, but I don’t need another reason to harbor ridiculous paranoia about dolls!
21. Esther, Orphan
Deadline
Listen, obviously little kids can be super cute and adorable, but they can also be freaking CREEPY. Exhibit A: Esther, from Orphan. Esther epitomizes Evil Child Syndrome, which is a real thing, apparently.
22. Lestat, Interview With The Vampire
Warner Bros.
Of course, Lestat is only really the villain from Louis’ POV. But just because we fantasize about being on his good side doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want to be on his bad side. Antiheroes can be friggin’ terrifying too.
23. Griffin, The Invisible Man
Universal
This 2020 retelling of H. G. Wells’s classic novel of the same name modernizes the evil Dr. Griffin by making him a super-possessive ex-boyfriend/inventor who fakes his own death and makes a techy suit that turns him invisible so he can terrorize his ex-girlfriend Cecilia. His hobbies include sneaking into Cecilia’s room and pulling off the bed covers while she’s sleeping and tackling her from behind, ya know, just stuff that makes everyone around Cecilia question her sanity.
24. The Shark, Jaws
mptvimages
This circa 1970 shark might look kind of fake, sure. But if you’ve ever been afraid of the deep blue sea, this massive great white villain—with his rows of razor-sharp teeth, hankering for human flesh, and a not an ounce of remorse—will only confirm your fears. You’ll definitely want to say “no thanks” to any cruise or boat trip opportunities forever.
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25. Pelle, Midsommar
Gabor Kotschy
Incoming *controversial* take! Can we just talk about the fact that Pelle—as good as he thinks his intentions might be—literally took all his new “friends” on this trip to Sweden to visit his ~cute~ cult family and subjected those same “friends” to human sacrifice, bad shroom trips, and general gory chaos. Like? IDK? Sounds pretty villainous to me. Also, he is just waaay too ready to comfort Dani. And his smile? It’s creepy.
26. Ghostface, Scream
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Fact: Ghostface is terrifying. I get that most people, at this point, associate Ghostface with things like their little brother’s Halloween costume or Scary Movie and maybe don’t find him that scary. But no. Literally, LOOK at that mask. The eyes are too empty and the mouth is way, way too long to be natural.
27. The Xenomorph, Alien
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There are countless iterations of this parasitic and murderous alien monster, but there’s nothing quite like the OG Xenomorph from the first Alien movie. This guy comes out as a weird crab-like creature that pops out of an even weirder fleshy egg that latches on to your face and falls off before a little demon-alien baby (think: Bella’s vampire child but scarier) bursts out of your stomach and grows into a human-size killing machine with an extra jaw. Need I say more?
28. Tom Ripley, The Talented Mr. Ripley
This may be more of a thriller than a horror movie, and half of the stuff that Matt Damon does feels kiiiiiiiiind of aspirational until you realize that he’s a sociopath. But like some of the other villains on this list, it’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for. The so-called “nice guys” you don’t see coming.
29. Michael Myers, Halloween
Dimension Films/Getty Images
Ruining Jamie Lee Curtis’s trick-or-treating and otherwise harmless sheet masks since 1978. You might want to hide all your sharp knives after this one.
30. The Entity, It Follows
Dimension
If you haven’t seen It Follows, allow me to explain the setup: You have sex with someone infected by the entity. The entity, which can take the shape of anyone, including people you know, starts following you. The entity follows you until it kills you or you pass it on to someone else through sex. If the entity kills that person, it comes back for you. You can never go anywhere with only one exit, you can never trust anyone, and you can never sleep again. Basically, you are fucked for all eternity. Good luck! (Bonus: For a good three or four days after watching this movie, you will believe every single person you see is a sex demon coming to murder you.)
31. Annabelle, The Conjuring and Annabelle
Warner Bros.
Annabelle certainly isn’t the first villain to prove that dolls are horrible and should never be allowed in the hands of human children, but she does hold the distinct honor of being based on an IRL doll believed to be responsible for the death of at least one person. Having met that doll, I can confirm that she is just as scary in real life as she is onscreen, if not more so.
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32. Jason Voorhees, Friday the 13th
Warner Bros.
Jason wants revenge for getting drowned in a lake, and I get that. I really do. But did he have to drag his mother into it? The only thing worse than a serial killer hell-bent on destruction is one who has to get his mother to do it for him. Does he ask her to wash his underwear too?
Giphy
33. Minnie Castevet, Rosemary’s Baby
Paramount
In Minnie’s defense, she’s not the only resident of the Bramford who conspired to get Rosemary knocked up with Lil Satan, but she’s definitely the one you’d least expect—and that’s what makes her terrifying. She might look like an innocent elderly neighbor who just wants to help calm your pregnancy nerves (for the love of god, don’t take the herbs!), but in reality, she’s a devil worshipper determined to make sure your newborn ends up in a black bassinet designed for a hell spawn. He has his father’s eyes!
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34. “The Beast” a.k.a. “The Horde,” Split (and Glass)
Universal
Deranged James McAvoy and it’s secretly a sequel to Unbreakable???? Yes please.
35. Mister Babadook, The Babadook
IFC
As was established with Esther in Orphan, children are terrifying, but they’re even worse when they start hallucinating a character from a kid’s book and crafting homemade weapons to defend themselves from said character. It also doesn’t help that the Babadook looks like your childhood vision of the bogeyman.
Giphy
36. Pinhead, Hellraiser
Getty Images
I mean, hello. Look at him.
37. Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare on Elm Street
New Line/Getty
Everyone’s had nightmares, and everyone knows they’re awful. Freddy Krueger is what happens when those nightmares come alive and actually start killing you. Sweet dreams, suckers!
Giphy
38. Annie Wilkes, Misery
Columbia Pictures
Before she was killing it on American Horror Story as formidable villains Delphine (Coven) and the Butcher (Roanoke), Kathy Bates ruined lives as Annie Wilkes, a psychopath who takes the word “superfan” too far. She’s the single reason Harry Styles doesn’t respond to your daily Twitter mentions.
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39. Candyman, Candyman
TriStar
Pour one out for all the ’90s kids who saw this at the video store and mistook it for a sequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. If this guy offers you an Everlasting Gobstopper, do not take it under any circumstances.
40. Samara Morgan, The Ring
Dreamworks
Actually, forget what I said about “super cute and adorable.” Children are terrifying. This is a fact. Even in real life, they talk to people who aren’t there, they think a fairy comes to their rooms at night and hands over money in exchange for lost teeth, and they could accidentally kill themselves at any moment.
Giphy
But no child, real or imagined, is more terrifying than Samara Morgan, a monster so nightmare-inducing that after I first saw The Ring, my mom offered to take my television out of my bedroom lest Samara crawl out of it and strangle me. May Samara fall down that well one more time and never slink out of it again.
41. Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs
20th Century Fox
He could have just been a serial killer with a talent for uncomfortably compelling conversation. But nooo, he had to be a cannibal too. Have the lambs stopped screaming, Clarice? No, Hannibal, and they never will as long as your face is visible on cable 40 times a month.
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42. Jack Torrance, The Shining
Getty Images
No matter how many times you see The Shining, the image of Jack Nicholson’s face popping through that door after he bashes it in with an axe will never stop being bury-your-face-in-the-couch terrifying. Side note: This movie makes a great case for never marrying a writer.
Giphy
43. Norman Bates, Psycho
If a boy tells you his best friend is his mother, run.
Archive PhotosGetty Images
44. Pennywise, It
Warner Bros. Pictures
As Carrie Bradshaw so wisely said, “Nothing’s scarier than a clown,” and no clown is scarier than Pennywise, who is not even really a clown but an evil otherworldly entity that just takes the form of a clown so he can more easily murder children. (TBT to the infamous clown epidemic of 2016!)
Giphy
45. Pazuzu, The Exorcist
What, you thought it was gonna be Regan MacNeil on this list? You can’t blame her for all that green vomit and floor pee! It was all Pazuzu’s fault. (Although, technically, none of this would have happened if she hadn’t been playing with that Ouija board in the first place.)
Warner Brothers
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46. Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Dark Sky Films
Spoiler alert: That’s not really leather.
Giphy
47. Dr. Heiter, The Human Centipede
IFC
This dude gets off on sewing people’s mouths to other people’s buttholes. What else could you possibly need to know?
48. The Nun, The Nun
Warner Bros. Pictures
The only thing scarier than the Nun is the fact that she’s based on an IRL nightmare of a true story.
49. Black Phillip, The Witch
A24
Who wouldn’t want a talking pet goat, right?!
Giphy
Unless you’re all alone in the middle of nowhere with your family and that goat is actually Satan. Then, I guess, no one?
50. Chucky, Child’s Play
Universal
He’s only just the reason that people are scared of dolls. Well… him and Anabelle. Also his wife Tiffany. Dolls are scary, ok?! If one came to life IRL it would be freaky AF, not fun and cute like Toy Story!!
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We want to say thanks to the writer of this post for this awesome material
";}s:7:"summary";s:693:"Even when the weather is hot, there’s nothing like a good scare to give you literal chills. It doesn’t need to be Spooky Szn TM, I’ve become convinced that scary-movie villains are hiding around every corner waiting to jump out and kill me. I have Halloween on the brain constantly; it pretty much seeps into ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:91996:"
Even when the weather is hot, there’s nothing like a good scare to give you literal chills. It doesn’t need to be Spooky Szn TM, I’ve become convinced that scary-movie villains are hiding around every corner waiting to jump out and kill me. I have Halloween on the brain constantly; it pretty much seeps into every nook and cranny of my psyche. I’m never not sourcing inspo for my costume, TBH. Sometimes you just need a classic horror flick.
As we all know, a scary movie lives or dies (but mostly dies a horrible death) by its villain. I don’t know about you, but watching a deranged serial killer run, walk, slink, or crawl across my screen sounds like the perfect way to get end a tough week. Here are the scariest horror movie villains to terrorize the big screen/serve as your Halloween costume vision board and/or sleep paralysis demons.
1. Dean, Missy, and Jeremy Armitage, Get Out
Get Out
The entire Armitage family in Get Out is terrifying and freaking psychotic. They possess the kind of passive, manipulative creepiness that absolutely fucks with your head and sends shivers through your whole body. That and the fact that they embody the insidious racism our country was built on.
2. Steve, Fresh
Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
It’s only my biggest fear that I’ll hit it off with some guy only to end up chained up in his basement (and not in a fun and/or consensual way). This movie just gets wilder, scarier, and more twisted as it goes on! Sebastian Stan is so much of a charming everyman that it makes his villainous turn that much more likely to haunt you for weeks.
3. Audrey II, Little Shop of Horrors
Murray CloseGetty Images
Don’t feed the plants.
4. Patrick Bateman, American Psycho
Hulton ArchiveGetty Images
Nostalgia for the ’80s hits differently when you’re watching one of its most iconic characters commit brutal murders with a Rembrandt smile. The fact that Bateman’s killing may or may not be happening in his head makes him somehow scarier. If even he doesn’t know what’s real…do you?
5. Frank-N-Furter, The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Movie Poster Image ArtGetty Images
Tim Curry is so campy, sexy, and entertaining in the cult musical that you forget he’s actually pretty friggin’ evil, tries to kill almost all of the characters, and is ultimately defeated at the end of the movie. Just because this twist on the “car broke down outside a spooky mansion” trope includes a dance-off doesn’t make the stakes any lower.
6. Lucille Sharpe, Crimson Peak
Legendary Pictures
Spoiler alert: though he’s played many villains in his career, Tom Hiddleston is not the villain Crimson Peak. It’s his character’s sister and her creepy incest vibes that you need to watch out for in Guillermo Del Toro’s film.
7. Godzilla and/or King Kong
Warner Bros.
They’re such classic horror movies that we even love to see them fight each other!
8. Jennifer, Jennifer’s Body
20th Century Studios
This underrated film is fuh-in-ah-lly getting the praise and recognition that it deserves. It’s such a good campy horror movie. Megan Fox is incredible as the villain. It’s funny and feminist and so freaking good. If you’re a f*ckboy, you should be scared of her.
9. Men, Men
Kevin Baker/A24
Okay, so there are actually a few specific and terrifying characters in the A24 film who would technically be classified as “the villain” in a more traditional sense. One of them is based on “The Green Man” from folklore, which also popped up in a recent-ish season of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. But it’s just men, right? It’s always just men.
10. The Facility, Cabin in the Woods
Lionsgate
Monsters and jump scares are a dime a dozen in this spooky comedy, and any one of them is likely to shake you to your very core. The film’s “big bad” is an organization of corporate types who gleefully sacrifice young people and bet on which gore-filled horror will get them first. Somehow these heartless dweebs are the scariest of all. (That said, special shoutout to the Merman, always.)
11. Vivian Tyrell, Vampires vs. The Bronx
Broadway Video
Well…*pushes glasses up nose* the real villain is gentrification, but who better to represent that than the white girl who is new to the neighborhood and just so happens to be a bloodthirsty vampire? It’s not as subtle as Get Out, but since when has horror ever aimed for subtly?
12. Mama, Mama
Youtube
A possessed, demonic, and spidery creature, this controlling mother is none too pleased when her two young daughters are adopted—even though she abandoned them in the woods for, um, five years. So she does what any mother would do: she terrorizes and tortures everyone, including her! own! children!
13. Carrie White, Carrie
New York Times
You could argue that Carrie White is actually the victim in this story. But just because her murdering rampage is kinda warranted doesn’t mean it’s not also horrifying as hell.
14. The Thing, The Thing
Machine Mean
No one knows exactly what the Thing is in John Carpenter’s 1982 classic sci-fi horror film. Because there’s really no better name for a slimy conglomeration of limbs and hands and teeth than the Thing.
15. Sweeney Todd and Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Warner Brothers
Not gonna lie, any time a movie shows someone getting shaved by a straight razor my blood turns to ice. It’s 100 percent because of this musical.
16. The Scarlet Witch, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Now, do I love that Elizabeth Olsen’s Marvel hero made such a dramatic villainous turn after seemingly getting closure in WandaVision? Not really! But that’s where we’re at, and I was delightfully spooked by all of the gruesome ways she magically murdered people in the movie.
17. Seth Brundle, The Fly
Bloody Disgusting
Seth Brundle was just your typical crazy mad scientist trying to impress a girl with a supposed breakthrough invention. Until the experiment took a very different course…one that involves Brundle slowly morphing into a human-sized fly creature that’s just as gross as it sounds.
18. Henry, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Filmmaker Magazine
Michael Rooker’s harrowing performance as serial killer Henry Lee Lucas is deeply, deeply disturbing. You know this is based on a true story of a real-life murderer, right? Do not, I repeat, do *not* watch this alone at night.
19. Anna Ivers, The Uninvited
Tumblr
I don’t want to give away too much butttttt the movie revolves around Anna, who has been in a psych ward for nearly a year following the death of her terminally ill mother. In this psychological thriller, it’s unclear what’s real and what’s a hallucination until the very, very end—at which point, one last twist awaits you.
20. Brahms, The Boy
Bloody Disgusting
Why do we let little kids play with dolls and pretend like they aren’t the scariest things ever?!?!? Brahms is a creepy, life-like doll who terrorizes anyone who comes in contact with him. Thanks Hollywood, but I don’t need another reason to harbor ridiculous paranoia about dolls!
21. Esther, Orphan
Deadline
Listen, obviously little kids can be super cute and adorable, but they can also be freaking CREEPY. Exhibit A: Esther, from Orphan. Esther epitomizes Evil Child Syndrome, which is a real thing, apparently.
22. Lestat, Interview With The Vampire
Warner Bros.
Of course, Lestat is only really the villain from Louis’ POV. But just because we fantasize about being on his good side doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want to be on his bad side. Antiheroes can be friggin’ terrifying too.
23. Griffin, The Invisible Man
Universal
This 2020 retelling of H. G. Wells’s classic novel of the same name modernizes the evil Dr. Griffin by making him a super-possessive ex-boyfriend/inventor who fakes his own death and makes a techy suit that turns him invisible so he can terrorize his ex-girlfriend Cecilia. His hobbies include sneaking into Cecilia’s room and pulling off the bed covers while she’s sleeping and tackling her from behind, ya know, just stuff that makes everyone around Cecilia question her sanity.
24. The Shark, Jaws
mptvimages
This circa 1970 shark might look kind of fake, sure. But if you’ve ever been afraid of the deep blue sea, this massive great white villain—with his rows of razor-sharp teeth, hankering for human flesh, and a not an ounce of remorse—will only confirm your fears. You’ll definitely want to say “no thanks” to any cruise or boat trip opportunities forever.
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25. Pelle, Midsommar
Gabor Kotschy
Incoming *controversial* take! Can we just talk about the fact that Pelle—as good as he thinks his intentions might be—literally took all his new “friends” on this trip to Sweden to visit his ~cute~ cult family and subjected those same “friends” to human sacrifice, bad shroom trips, and general gory chaos. Like? IDK? Sounds pretty villainous to me. Also, he is just waaay too ready to comfort Dani. And his smile? It’s creepy.
26. Ghostface, Scream
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Fact: Ghostface is terrifying. I get that most people, at this point, associate Ghostface with things like their little brother’s Halloween costume or Scary Movie and maybe don’t find him that scary. But no. Literally, LOOK at that mask. The eyes are too empty and the mouth is way, way too long to be natural.
27. The Xenomorph, Alien
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There are countless iterations of this parasitic and murderous alien monster, but there’s nothing quite like the OG Xenomorph from the first Alien movie. This guy comes out as a weird crab-like creature that pops out of an even weirder fleshy egg that latches on to your face and falls off before a little demon-alien baby (think: Bella’s vampire child but scarier) bursts out of your stomach and grows into a human-size killing machine with an extra jaw. Need I say more?
28. Tom Ripley, The Talented Mr. Ripley
This may be more of a thriller than a horror movie, and half of the stuff that Matt Damon does feels kiiiiiiiiind of aspirational until you realize that he’s a sociopath. But like some of the other villains on this list, it’s the quiet ones you need to watch out for. The so-called “nice guys” you don’t see coming.
29. Michael Myers, Halloween
Dimension Films/Getty Images
Ruining Jamie Lee Curtis’s trick-or-treating and otherwise harmless sheet masks since 1978. You might want to hide all your sharp knives after this one.
30. The Entity, It Follows
Dimension
If you haven’t seen It Follows, allow me to explain the setup: You have sex with someone infected by the entity. The entity, which can take the shape of anyone, including people you know, starts following you. The entity follows you until it kills you or you pass it on to someone else through sex. If the entity kills that person, it comes back for you. You can never go anywhere with only one exit, you can never trust anyone, and you can never sleep again. Basically, you are fucked for all eternity. Good luck! (Bonus: For a good three or four days after watching this movie, you will believe every single person you see is a sex demon coming to murder you.)
31. Annabelle, The Conjuring and Annabelle
Warner Bros.
Annabelle certainly isn’t the first villain to prove that dolls are horrible and should never be allowed in the hands of human children, but she does hold the distinct honor of being based on an IRL doll believed to be responsible for the death of at least one person. Having met that doll, I can confirm that she is just as scary in real life as she is onscreen, if not more so.
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32. Jason Voorhees, Friday the 13th
Warner Bros.
Jason wants revenge for getting drowned in a lake, and I get that. I really do. But did he have to drag his mother into it? The only thing worse than a serial killer hell-bent on destruction is one who has to get his mother to do it for him. Does he ask her to wash his underwear too?
Giphy
33. Minnie Castevet, Rosemary’s Baby
Paramount
In Minnie’s defense, she’s not the only resident of the Bramford who conspired to get Rosemary knocked up with Lil Satan, but she’s definitely the one you’d least expect—and that’s what makes her terrifying. She might look like an innocent elderly neighbor who just wants to help calm your pregnancy nerves (for the love of god, don’t take the herbs!), but in reality, she’s a devil worshipper determined to make sure your newborn ends up in a black bassinet designed for a hell spawn. He has his father’s eyes!
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34. “The Beast” a.k.a. “The Horde,” Split (and Glass)
Universal
Deranged James McAvoy and it’s secretly a sequel to Unbreakable???? Yes please.
35. Mister Babadook, The Babadook
IFC
As was established with Esther in Orphan, children are terrifying, but they’re even worse when they start hallucinating a character from a kid’s book and crafting homemade weapons to defend themselves from said character. It also doesn’t help that the Babadook looks like your childhood vision of the bogeyman.
Giphy
36. Pinhead, Hellraiser
Getty Images
I mean, hello. Look at him.
37. Freddy Krueger, A Nightmare on Elm Street
New Line/Getty
Everyone’s had nightmares, and everyone knows they’re awful. Freddy Krueger is what happens when those nightmares come alive and actually start killing you. Sweet dreams, suckers!
Giphy
38. Annie Wilkes, Misery
Columbia Pictures
Before she was killing it on American Horror Story as formidable villains Delphine (Coven) and the Butcher (Roanoke), Kathy Bates ruined lives as Annie Wilkes, a psychopath who takes the word “superfan” too far. She’s the single reason Harry Styles doesn’t respond to your daily Twitter mentions.
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39. Candyman, Candyman
TriStar
Pour one out for all the ’90s kids who saw this at the video store and mistook it for a sequel to Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. If this guy offers you an Everlasting Gobstopper, do not take it under any circumstances.
40. Samara Morgan, The Ring
Dreamworks
Actually, forget what I said about “super cute and adorable.” Children are terrifying. This is a fact. Even in real life, they talk to people who aren’t there, they think a fairy comes to their rooms at night and hands over money in exchange for lost teeth, and they could accidentally kill themselves at any moment.
Giphy
But no child, real or imagined, is more terrifying than Samara Morgan, a monster so nightmare-inducing that after I first saw The Ring, my mom offered to take my television out of my bedroom lest Samara crawl out of it and strangle me. May Samara fall down that well one more time and never slink out of it again.
41. Hannibal Lecter, The Silence of the Lambs
20th Century Fox
He could have just been a serial killer with a talent for uncomfortably compelling conversation. But nooo, he had to be a cannibal too. Have the lambs stopped screaming, Clarice? No, Hannibal, and they never will as long as your face is visible on cable 40 times a month.
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42. Jack Torrance, The Shining
Getty Images
No matter how many times you see The Shining, the image of Jack Nicholson’s face popping through that door after he bashes it in with an axe will never stop being bury-your-face-in-the-couch terrifying. Side note: This movie makes a great case for never marrying a writer.
Giphy
43. Norman Bates, Psycho
If a boy tells you his best friend is his mother, run.
Archive PhotosGetty Images
44. Pennywise, It
Warner Bros. Pictures
As Carrie Bradshaw so wisely said, “Nothing’s scarier than a clown,” and no clown is scarier than Pennywise, who is not even really a clown but an evil otherworldly entity that just takes the form of a clown so he can more easily murder children. (TBT to the infamous clown epidemic of 2016!)
Giphy
45. Pazuzu, The Exorcist
What, you thought it was gonna be Regan MacNeil on this list? You can’t blame her for all that green vomit and floor pee! It was all Pazuzu’s fault. (Although, technically, none of this would have happened if she hadn’t been playing with that Ouija board in the first place.)
Warner Brothers
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46. Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Dark Sky Films
Spoiler alert: That’s not really leather.
Giphy
47. Dr. Heiter, The Human Centipede
IFC
This dude gets off on sewing people’s mouths to other people’s buttholes. What else could you possibly need to know?
48. The Nun, The Nun
Warner Bros. Pictures
The only thing scarier than the Nun is the fact that she’s based on an IRL nightmare of a true story.
49. Black Phillip, The Witch
A24
Who wouldn’t want a talking pet goat, right?!
Giphy
Unless you’re all alone in the middle of nowhere with your family and that goat is actually Satan. Then, I guess, no one?
50. Chucky, Child’s Play
Universal
He’s only just the reason that people are scared of dolls. Well… him and Anabelle. Also his wife Tiffany. Dolls are scary, ok?! If one came to life IRL it would be freaky AF, not fun and cute like Toy Story!!
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";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654158630;}i:8;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:48:"10 Best Horror Movies To Watch During The Summer";s:4:"link";s:104:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/10-best-horror-movies-to-watch-during-the-summer/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 07:08:58 +0000";s:8:"category";s:34:"Scream AwayHorrorMoviesSummerWatch";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69218";s:11:"description";s:597:"When one thinks of seasons perfect for horror movies, one will usually think of fall. For the most part, they would be correct. The chilly weather, the changing leaves, and the looming Halloween season all make for perfect scary movie weather. However, summer is also prime for horror viewing. There are more than a few ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:23158:"
When one thinks of seasons perfect for horror movies, one will usually think of fall. For the most part, they would be correct. The chilly weather, the changing leaves, and the looming Halloween season all make for perfect scary movie weather. However, summer is also prime for horror viewing. There are more than a few horror films set during summer that are perfect to put on when the air becomes hot and humid. whether set on a beach or at a lonely cabin, here are ten summer movies that will rival the movies set during Halloween.
10. The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
Rob Zombie’s films are usually divisive in the horror community. Fans either love his style or hate it. However, when mentioning the best Zombie films, almost everyone will say The Devil’s Rejects. The sequel to Zombie’s theatrical debut, House of 1,000 Corpses, Devil’s Rejects follows the deadly Firefly family as they go on a bloody trip through the desert while an equally demented sheriff closes in. The Firefly clan were introduced as the antagonists in the last film, but here they are front and center. This gory and disturbing movie is escalated by the hot climate it takes place. This may not be one of the more upbeat horror movies, but it is perfect to watch on a hot summer day.
9. The Evil Dead (1981)
Whenever summertime rolls around, people usually go on vacation with their friends and family. Oftentimes, this means heading to a cabin to escape life for a while. The original Evil Dead has a group of friends escaping life permanently. The classic film that spawned a franchise follows friends who find the ancient Necronomicon and unknowingly release an army of the dead. The idea of escaping life’s woes only to endure unspeakable nightmares is what makes Evil Dead perfect for some warped summer viewing. unlike the sequels, this film is pure horror and omits the intentional comedy the series became known for. If your vacation plans involve going to a cabin, then Evil Dead is the perfect summer movie for you.
8. The Lost Boys (1987)
When making your vacation plans try sunny Santa Carla, California. Beautiful beaches, great food, and blood-thirsty vampires await you. Lost Boys is a black comedy about a mother and two sons who discover their new hometown is infested with vampires. Corey Haim plays Sam a teenage boy who befriends self-proclaimed vampire hunters Edgar and Alan Frog. Sam soon learns his own brother is in danger of becoming a vampire, so it is up to him and the Frog brothers to save him. This film is oozing ’80s goodness in the best way possible. The movie is filled with scary vampire goodness as well as comedic moments. An idyllic summer getaway turned on its head makes for some of the best horror movies, and Lost Boys is no exception.
7. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
What makes the original Texas Chain Saw Massacrestands out above the others is how gritty it feels. The film was very low budget, and the almost amateur filmmaking works to the film’s advantage. The film follows Sally Hardesty and her friends as they encounter a family of cannibalistic psychopaths. This classic slasher flick is perfect for viewing any time of the year, but watching it on a hot and muggy summer day adds a whole other level. The film was shot in the hot Texas heat, and it is as if the heat is bleeding through the film. Each actor is coated in sweat and this gives the film an uncomfortable feeling. Summer movies usually show the good of the season, but this one shows that the heat isn’t the only thing to be afraid of.
6. IT (2017)
For most people, remembering summer vacations when they were young brings back fond memories. Leavin school on the last day, hanging out with friends, and not having a care in the world. For the kids of Derry, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. A group of friends calling themselves The Loser’s Club face a shapeshifting creature that feeds on their fear..and their bodies. This creature haunts the town every 27 years, and the Loser’s Club looks to put an end to it. What makes this one of the best summertime horror movies, is that it functions as a coming-of-age tale as well as a scary story. The main cast truly feels like a realistic group of friends desperate to enjoy their summer regardless of Pennywise. Everyone can see some of themselves in one of the kids, and that adds to the enjoyment of this Stephen King classic.
5. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Before he introduced Freddy Krueger into the nightmares of horror fans, Wes Craven introduced a family of cannibals living in the mountains of a California desert. A suburban family’s car breaks down in a seemingly uninhabited area while on vacation. This area is actually home to a group of savages who have the family in their sights. Like Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Hills Have Eyes feels like the film reel could melt at any moment. The uncomfortable heat seen on-screen just adds to the uncomfortable tone of the film. As for the movie itself, it is one of the best Craven has ever attached his name to. This exploitation movie is one of the best, and horror fans should check out this summer. Just make sure to have plenty of water and air.
4. The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods is one of the best meta slasher movies, and for good reasons. The film is a satire on the fittingly titled cabin in the woods trope made popular by films such as The Evil Dead. The movie follows a group of teenagers who become the unwilling subjects of a deadly social experiment. While also serving as a satirical comedy, Cabin in the Woods still has some scary moments that can rival some straightforward horror movies. This is another classic that turns the idea of an ideal summer vacation on its head.
3. Friday the 13th (1980)
Summer camps were once a staple of summertime, but thanks to this movie that has all changed. Before exploding into the mega-franchise it became, Friday the 13th was a simple film about an unknown killer stalking the grounds of a summer camp. While summer camps are still a popular part of the season, the fear of someone lurking in the shadows waiting to strike has been doubled thanks to Friday the 13th. While legendary slasher Jason doesn’t make his official debut until the sequel, this movie is still a thrilling time and one of the best slasher movies of all time. This film demands to be watched near a lake, where the killer could be hiding and waiting to attack at any moment.
2. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
While the Friday the 13th franchise has become synonymous with horrific summer movies, Sleepaway Camp has the original beat in the eyes of many. The film follows a young girl going to a summer camp with her cousin to help her overcome a traumatic experience. Things seem to be going well at first until a killer begins taking out campers and staff one by one. The kills are gruesome and memorable, and the twist is one of the best in horror history. This film is a cult classic that should be seen by every horror fan. This summer is the perfect time to take a trip to Camp Arawak.
1. Jaws (1975)
Little can be said about this classic Spielberg movie that hasn’t been said before. A huge shark terrorizes the small beach town of Amity, and it is up to three men to stop it. This movie gave birth to the summer blockbuster, and it is no surprise as to why. The beach is arguably the most famous summertime destination, and this is the movie responsible for making beachgoers afraid to go into the water. To this day, Jaws is seen every summer and gets more and more popular with each passing year. The film’s strength lies in the human leads, but when the shark shows up hairs are sure to stand on end. This is one of the most popular movies of all time and the perfect summer horror movie.
We want to give thanks to the author of this post for this awesome web content
";}s:7:"summary";s:597:"When one thinks of seasons perfect for horror movies, one will usually think of fall. For the most part, they would be correct. The chilly weather, the changing leaves, and the looming Halloween season all make for perfect scary movie weather. However, summer is also prime for horror viewing. There are more than a few ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:23158:"
When one thinks of seasons perfect for horror movies, one will usually think of fall. For the most part, they would be correct. The chilly weather, the changing leaves, and the looming Halloween season all make for perfect scary movie weather. However, summer is also prime for horror viewing. There are more than a few horror films set during summer that are perfect to put on when the air becomes hot and humid. whether set on a beach or at a lonely cabin, here are ten summer movies that will rival the movies set during Halloween.
10. The Devil’s Rejects (2005)
Rob Zombie’s films are usually divisive in the horror community. Fans either love his style or hate it. However, when mentioning the best Zombie films, almost everyone will say The Devil’s Rejects. The sequel to Zombie’s theatrical debut, House of 1,000 Corpses, Devil’s Rejects follows the deadly Firefly family as they go on a bloody trip through the desert while an equally demented sheriff closes in. The Firefly clan were introduced as the antagonists in the last film, but here they are front and center. This gory and disturbing movie is escalated by the hot climate it takes place. This may not be one of the more upbeat horror movies, but it is perfect to watch on a hot summer day.
9. The Evil Dead (1981)
Whenever summertime rolls around, people usually go on vacation with their friends and family. Oftentimes, this means heading to a cabin to escape life for a while. The original Evil Dead has a group of friends escaping life permanently. The classic film that spawned a franchise follows friends who find the ancient Necronomicon and unknowingly release an army of the dead. The idea of escaping life’s woes only to endure unspeakable nightmares is what makes Evil Dead perfect for some warped summer viewing. unlike the sequels, this film is pure horror and omits the intentional comedy the series became known for. If your vacation plans involve going to a cabin, then Evil Dead is the perfect summer movie for you.
8. The Lost Boys (1987)
When making your vacation plans try sunny Santa Carla, California. Beautiful beaches, great food, and blood-thirsty vampires await you. Lost Boys is a black comedy about a mother and two sons who discover their new hometown is infested with vampires. Corey Haim plays Sam a teenage boy who befriends self-proclaimed vampire hunters Edgar and Alan Frog. Sam soon learns his own brother is in danger of becoming a vampire, so it is up to him and the Frog brothers to save him. This film is oozing ’80s goodness in the best way possible. The movie is filled with scary vampire goodness as well as comedic moments. An idyllic summer getaway turned on its head makes for some of the best horror movies, and Lost Boys is no exception.
7. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
What makes the original Texas Chain Saw Massacrestands out above the others is how gritty it feels. The film was very low budget, and the almost amateur filmmaking works to the film’s advantage. The film follows Sally Hardesty and her friends as they encounter a family of cannibalistic psychopaths. This classic slasher flick is perfect for viewing any time of the year, but watching it on a hot and muggy summer day adds a whole other level. The film was shot in the hot Texas heat, and it is as if the heat is bleeding through the film. Each actor is coated in sweat and this gives the film an uncomfortable feeling. Summer movies usually show the good of the season, but this one shows that the heat isn’t the only thing to be afraid of.
6. IT (2017)
For most people, remembering summer vacations when they were young brings back fond memories. Leavin school on the last day, hanging out with friends, and not having a care in the world. For the kids of Derry, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. A group of friends calling themselves The Loser’s Club face a shapeshifting creature that feeds on their fear..and their bodies. This creature haunts the town every 27 years, and the Loser’s Club looks to put an end to it. What makes this one of the best summertime horror movies, is that it functions as a coming-of-age tale as well as a scary story. The main cast truly feels like a realistic group of friends desperate to enjoy their summer regardless of Pennywise. Everyone can see some of themselves in one of the kids, and that adds to the enjoyment of this Stephen King classic.
5. The Hills Have Eyes (1977)
Before he introduced Freddy Krueger into the nightmares of horror fans, Wes Craven introduced a family of cannibals living in the mountains of a California desert. A suburban family’s car breaks down in a seemingly uninhabited area while on vacation. This area is actually home to a group of savages who have the family in their sights. Like Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Hills Have Eyes feels like the film reel could melt at any moment. The uncomfortable heat seen on-screen just adds to the uncomfortable tone of the film. As for the movie itself, it is one of the best Craven has ever attached his name to. This exploitation movie is one of the best, and horror fans should check out this summer. Just make sure to have plenty of water and air.
4. The Cabin In The Woods (2011)
The Cabin in the Woods is one of the best meta slasher movies, and for good reasons. The film is a satire on the fittingly titled cabin in the woods trope made popular by films such as The Evil Dead. The movie follows a group of teenagers who become the unwilling subjects of a deadly social experiment. While also serving as a satirical comedy, Cabin in the Woods still has some scary moments that can rival some straightforward horror movies. This is another classic that turns the idea of an ideal summer vacation on its head.
3. Friday the 13th (1980)
Summer camps were once a staple of summertime, but thanks to this movie that has all changed. Before exploding into the mega-franchise it became, Friday the 13th was a simple film about an unknown killer stalking the grounds of a summer camp. While summer camps are still a popular part of the season, the fear of someone lurking in the shadows waiting to strike has been doubled thanks to Friday the 13th. While legendary slasher Jason doesn’t make his official debut until the sequel, this movie is still a thrilling time and one of the best slasher movies of all time. This film demands to be watched near a lake, where the killer could be hiding and waiting to attack at any moment.
2. Sleepaway Camp (1983)
While the Friday the 13th franchise has become synonymous with horrific summer movies, Sleepaway Camp has the original beat in the eyes of many. The film follows a young girl going to a summer camp with her cousin to help her overcome a traumatic experience. Things seem to be going well at first until a killer begins taking out campers and staff one by one. The kills are gruesome and memorable, and the twist is one of the best in horror history. This film is a cult classic that should be seen by every horror fan. This summer is the perfect time to take a trip to Camp Arawak.
1. Jaws (1975)
Little can be said about this classic Spielberg movie that hasn’t been said before. A huge shark terrorizes the small beach town of Amity, and it is up to three men to stop it. This movie gave birth to the summer blockbuster, and it is no surprise as to why. The beach is arguably the most famous summertime destination, and this is the movie responsible for making beachgoers afraid to go into the water. To this day, Jaws is seen every summer and gets more and more popular with each passing year. The film’s strength lies in the human leads, but when the shark shows up hairs are sure to stand on end. This is one of the most popular movies of all time and the perfect summer horror movie.
We want to give thanks to the author of this post for this awesome web content
";s:14:"date_timestamp";i:1654153738;}i:9;a:11:{s:5:"title";s:84:"9 Folk Horror Movies From Around the World From ‘La Llorona’ to ‘Impetigore’";s:4:"link";s:128:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/scream-away/9-folk-horror-movies-from-around-the-world-from-la-llorona-to-impetigore/";s:2:"dc";a:1:{s:7:"creator";s:11:"Harry World";}s:7:"pubdate";s:31:"Thu, 02 Jun 2022 05:46:30 +0000";s:8:"category";s:44:"Scream AwayfolkHorrorImpetigoreLloronaMovies";s:4:"guid";s:51:"https://latestmovs.packagingnewsonline.com/?p=69207";s:11:"description";s:733:"Folk horror can be more than British and American movies, the subgenre has a love for isolated landscapes, old traditions, and human violence. Ancient religions and old stories of what lies in the dark are found across the globe. In Indonesia, Impetigorehas a young woman return to her childhood village only to find out it’s ... Read more";s:7:"content";a:1:{s:7:"encoded";s:26822:"
Folk horror can be more than British and American movies, the subgenre has a love for isolated landscapes, old traditions, and human violence. Ancient religions and old stories of what lies in the dark are found across the globe. In Indonesia, Impetigorehas a young woman return to her childhood village only to find out it’s cursed. Guatemala gave La Lloronausing the colonizing roots of the water spirit to talk about the country’s very real indigenous genocide. Over in Poland, its countryside becomes targeted in Demon by a creature from Jewish mythology.
What makes the following movies even more unique, are the culturally significant elements used. Rock formations in Australia bring out the fears of nature and the unknown.Superstitions on witchcraft are kept alive in a rural Italian village, along with its violent tendencies to find the culprit. In folk horror, peace between outsiders and closed-off communities fracture quite quickly–the passing of time becoming something dangerous.
RELATED: If You Liked ‘Men’, Watch These Movies and Series For More British Folk Horror
Noroi: The Curse (2005)
Image via Xanadeux Company
Told through found footage, a paranormal researcher investigates mysterious events. That sounds simple enough–but from the beginning, audiences know bad things are on the horizon. Masafumi Kobayashi, played by Jin Murakihas a number of books and docs to his name, all on paranormal activity around Japan. When a young girl who broadcasts her psychic abilities on TV disappears, Kobayashi gets his new subject to cover. It takes him to a religious village which once performed rituals for a demon. When the village started to undergo modern changes, the potential bright future was corrupted by a past that didn’t wish to get left behind.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY
Onibaba (1964)
Image via Toho
This Japanese movie centers on two women, one older and the other younger. During the 14-century, the two of them attack soldiers, stealing their possessions. A civil war is occurring, driving many people into such desperate acts of survival. When a wandering soldier appears, he’s wearing a Hannya mask, a horned face with an unnatural mouth. It’s an iconic visual of the movie. The older woman deals with the soldier accordingly, stealing his belongings and that mask. It’s a wrong move for her. The remote land would be beautiful, if it wasn’t filmed to be threatening. Tall susuki grass is nearly everywhere, the perfect hiding spot for the women to perform their thieving.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Image via BEF Film Distributors
This Australian movie unnerves by not showing but implying something terrible. It’s dream-like, with a constant summer aesthetic. A teacher brings a class out to Hanging Rock for a Valentine’s Day trip–they are never seen again. The location is a very real one, one with a devastating history. The original Aboriginal tribes that occupied the land, were pushed out by colonizers. In Picnic at Hanging Rocknature itself becomes a character, more specifically the rock formations of Hanging Rock that seem to bewitch those who go near.
La Llorona (2019)
An elder war criminal and his family are confined to their mansion, as the past comes back to punish the patriarch. A former Guatemalan dictator, Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz) is tried for the genocide he ordered against native Mayans. While protests rage outside the mansion during the day, the nights bring the sounds of a woman’s weeping. Then water throughout the house is being disturbed. Faucets turn out without anyone doing so. It’s obvious what is happening, the water spirit of La Llorona has her eyes set on the dictator and his faithful loved ones. From Mexico to South America, there are various versions of La Llorona. But what director Jayro Bustamante latches onto are the stories with a focus between colonizers and indigenous women, basing his fictional dictator on a very real one.
Witchhammer (1970)
Image via Barrandov Film Studio
Two older woman conceal communion bread to give to a cow that hasn’t produced milk. The seemingly harmless act ignites one hell of a firestorm. A priest finds out, and soon an inquisitor is brought into the situation. Taken from Czechoslovakian history, Boblig (Vladimir Smeral) takes charge over a series of trials, using the infamous, Wishboneas a helping source. That literature had a specific purpose. The Catholic authored pages encouraged brutal torture methods to pull confessions from “witches.” Power-hungry, Boblig believes his own lies, with little concern to the increasing numbers of the accused being burned at the stake. The Northern Moravian trials from the 1600s wasn’t the only inspiration for director Otakar Vávra. The theme of absolute, corrupting power is also very influenced by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, an oppressive rule which remained active at the time of Witchhammer‘s release.
Demon (2015)
Image via The Orchard
By the late director Marcin Wronacomes this Polish movie. A wedding part goes to hell when a bride’s family try to hush up the possession that has taken hold of the groom. The Jewish legend of the dbbyuk is used, a wandering spirit searching for a body to inhabit. But this is not the movie’s monster. Piotr (Itay Tiran) remembers little of his ancestral language as he is set to marry the polish Zaneta (Agnieszka Zulewska). But when he unearths something on her family’s rural estate, Piotr learns how far his future-in laws are prepared to go to ignore the family secret going back to the Holocaust.
The Old Ways (2020)
Image via Soapbox Films
Cristina (Brigitte Kali Canales) is a Los Angeles journalist who returns to her hometown in Veracruz, Mexico. She plans to do a story on witchcraft, but it isn’t long before she, herself, is thrust into the center of it. A bruja of this remote community orders an exorcism, seeing signs the journalist is possessed. There are an abundance of possession movies, this one tries to do things differently. The exorcism and its series of rituals are used as a means to discuss depression and drug addiction.
Impetigore (2019)
Shudder
Right from the opening, director Joko Anwar knows how to jolt the audience. A young woman is attacked, and the why leads to a mystery found in her parents’ rural village. But heading back will be her biggest regret. The villagers are inflicted with a curse and only bloodshed can save them. In this Indonesian movie, Anwar uses wayang, a traditional performative art of using shadow puppets, to tie into the secret of the curse. As to the answers they provide, they might remind you of childhood scary stories.
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Image via Medusa Distribuzione
An Italian giallo from Lucio Fulci finds a village where witchcraft superstitions persist. And it’s gotten dangerous. Unsolved child murders make the villagers believe a local witch is responsible. The police get involved but their methods don’t stand a chance against the recklessness of the villager’s growing fears. They don’t trust outsiders, so it doesn’t help the news media wish to capture the scandal. But as the villagers fall into paranoia, the outsiders could be the ones to stop the killer. The mountainous terrain of Southern Italy confine this village, this seclusion only feeding into their hysteria.
17 Movies like ‘Stranger Things’ to Watch for More Small-Town Terror and Nostalgic Adventure
Read Next
About The Author
Chris Sasaguay (63 Articles Published)
Chris Sasaguay is a Freelance Writer for Collider. At any given moment, his mind wanders from Scream Queens, queer cinema, to maybe ‘Bob’s Burgers’. If he isn’t hiking through the woods on his free time, he’s probably making another niche Spotify playlist.
More From Chris Sasaguay
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";}s:7:"summary";s:733:"Folk horror can be more than British and American movies, the subgenre has a love for isolated landscapes, old traditions, and human violence. Ancient religions and old stories of what lies in the dark are found across the globe. In Indonesia, Impetigorehas a young woman return to her childhood village only to find out it’s ... Read more";s:12:"atom_content";s:26822:"
Folk horror can be more than British and American movies, the subgenre has a love for isolated landscapes, old traditions, and human violence. Ancient religions and old stories of what lies in the dark are found across the globe. In Indonesia, Impetigorehas a young woman return to her childhood village only to find out it’s cursed. Guatemala gave La Lloronausing the colonizing roots of the water spirit to talk about the country’s very real indigenous genocide. Over in Poland, its countryside becomes targeted in Demon by a creature from Jewish mythology.
What makes the following movies even more unique, are the culturally significant elements used. Rock formations in Australia bring out the fears of nature and the unknown.Superstitions on witchcraft are kept alive in a rural Italian village, along with its violent tendencies to find the culprit. In folk horror, peace between outsiders and closed-off communities fracture quite quickly–the passing of time becoming something dangerous.
RELATED: If You Liked ‘Men’, Watch These Movies and Series For More British Folk Horror
Noroi: The Curse (2005)
Image via Xanadeux Company
Told through found footage, a paranormal researcher investigates mysterious events. That sounds simple enough–but from the beginning, audiences know bad things are on the horizon. Masafumi Kobayashi, played by Jin Murakihas a number of books and docs to his name, all on paranormal activity around Japan. When a young girl who broadcasts her psychic abilities on TV disappears, Kobayashi gets his new subject to cover. It takes him to a religious village which once performed rituals for a demon. When the village started to undergo modern changes, the potential bright future was corrupted by a past that didn’t wish to get left behind.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY
Onibaba (1964)
Image via Toho
This Japanese movie centers on two women, one older and the other younger. During the 14-century, the two of them attack soldiers, stealing their possessions. A civil war is occurring, driving many people into such desperate acts of survival. When a wandering soldier appears, he’s wearing a Hannya mask, a horned face with an unnatural mouth. It’s an iconic visual of the movie. The older woman deals with the soldier accordingly, stealing his belongings and that mask. It’s a wrong move for her. The remote land would be beautiful, if it wasn’t filmed to be threatening. Tall susuki grass is nearly everywhere, the perfect hiding spot for the women to perform their thieving.
Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Image via BEF Film Distributors
This Australian movie unnerves by not showing but implying something terrible. It’s dream-like, with a constant summer aesthetic. A teacher brings a class out to Hanging Rock for a Valentine’s Day trip–they are never seen again. The location is a very real one, one with a devastating history. The original Aboriginal tribes that occupied the land, were pushed out by colonizers. In Picnic at Hanging Rocknature itself becomes a character, more specifically the rock formations of Hanging Rock that seem to bewitch those who go near.
La Llorona (2019)
An elder war criminal and his family are confined to their mansion, as the past comes back to punish the patriarch. A former Guatemalan dictator, Enrique Monteverde (Julio Diaz) is tried for the genocide he ordered against native Mayans. While protests rage outside the mansion during the day, the nights bring the sounds of a woman’s weeping. Then water throughout the house is being disturbed. Faucets turn out without anyone doing so. It’s obvious what is happening, the water spirit of La Llorona has her eyes set on the dictator and his faithful loved ones. From Mexico to South America, there are various versions of La Llorona. But what director Jayro Bustamante latches onto are the stories with a focus between colonizers and indigenous women, basing his fictional dictator on a very real one.
Witchhammer (1970)
Image via Barrandov Film Studio
Two older woman conceal communion bread to give to a cow that hasn’t produced milk. The seemingly harmless act ignites one hell of a firestorm. A priest finds out, and soon an inquisitor is brought into the situation. Taken from Czechoslovakian history, Boblig (Vladimir Smeral) takes charge over a series of trials, using the infamous, Wishboneas a helping source. That literature had a specific purpose. The Catholic authored pages encouraged brutal torture methods to pull confessions from “witches.” Power-hungry, Boblig believes his own lies, with little concern to the increasing numbers of the accused being burned at the stake. The Northern Moravian trials from the 1600s wasn’t the only inspiration for director Otakar Vávra. The theme of absolute, corrupting power is also very influenced by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, an oppressive rule which remained active at the time of Witchhammer‘s release.
Demon (2015)
Image via The Orchard
By the late director Marcin Wronacomes this Polish movie. A wedding part goes to hell when a bride’s family try to hush up the possession that has taken hold of the groom. The Jewish legend of the dbbyuk is used, a wandering spirit searching for a body to inhabit. But this is not the movie’s monster. Piotr (Itay Tiran) remembers little of his ancestral language as he is set to marry the polish Zaneta (Agnieszka Zulewska). But when he unearths something on her family’s rural estate, Piotr learns how far his future-in laws are prepared to go to ignore the family secret going back to the Holocaust.
The Old Ways (2020)
Image via Soapbox Films
Cristina (Brigitte Kali Canales) is a Los Angeles journalist who returns to her hometown in Veracruz, Mexico. She plans to do a story on witchcraft, but it isn’t long before she, herself, is thrust into the center of it. A bruja of this remote community orders an exorcism, seeing signs the journalist is possessed. There are an abundance of possession movies, this one tries to do things differently. The exorcism and its series of rituals are used as a means to discuss depression and drug addiction.
Impetigore (2019)
Shudder
Right from the opening, director Joko Anwar knows how to jolt the audience. A young woman is attacked, and the why leads to a mystery found in her parents’ rural village. But heading back will be her biggest regret. The villagers are inflicted with a curse and only bloodshed can save them. In this Indonesian movie, Anwar uses wayang, a traditional performative art of using shadow puppets, to tie into the secret of the curse. As to the answers they provide, they might remind you of childhood scary stories.
Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972)
Image via Medusa Distribuzione
An Italian giallo from Lucio Fulci finds a village where witchcraft superstitions persist. And it’s gotten dangerous. Unsolved child murders make the villagers believe a local witch is responsible. The police get involved but their methods don’t stand a chance against the recklessness of the villager’s growing fears. They don’t trust outsiders, so it doesn’t help the news media wish to capture the scandal. But as the villagers fall into paranoia, the outsiders could be the ones to stop the killer. The mountainous terrain of Southern Italy confine this village, this seclusion only feeding into their hysteria.
17 Movies like ‘Stranger Things’ to Watch for More Small-Town Terror and Nostalgic Adventure
Read Next
About The Author
Chris Sasaguay (63 Articles Published)
Chris Sasaguay is a Freelance Writer for Collider. At any given moment, his mind wanders from Scream Queens, queer cinema, to maybe ‘Bob’s Burgers’. If he isn’t hiking through the woods on his free time, he’s probably making another niche Spotify playlist.
More From Chris Sasaguay
Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up for Collider’s newsletter for exclusive news, features, streaming recommendations and more
Click here to subscribe
We would love to say thanks to the author of this article for this outstanding content
