Editorials
Women In Horror Month: Girls Can Kill Too!
It’s February. The month of love. And Bloody-Disgusting wants to celebrate romance, kisses, and Katherine Heigl — no, screw that. It’s February. The month to actively show massive amounts of appreciation for Women in Horror. In case you’re unaware, for the past five years, February has been deemed Women in Horror Recognition Month (WiHM). Most of us don’t need a month (or reason) to celebrate our favorite women in horror, but this extremely estrogen-fueled month gives us an excuse to revel in the fairest species creating gruesome, terrifying, and horrifically beautiful art.
WiHM Founder, Hannah Forman, decided such a month should be set in place after becoming engrossed in feminist studies during college, while at the same time indulging a deep passion for horror and slasher films—leading to feelings of feminist guilt and discomfort. Loving these films yet understanding why they were problematic sparked an internal conflict for Hannah. She felt guilty. It wasn’t until she discovered Carol Clover, author of Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film that Hannah was able to reconcile these two passions. Loving horror and fighting for women’s rights didn’t have to be oil and water.
Although she initially faced a few disgruntled consumers, the cause gets stronger each year, bringing in new advocates and fans in droves. Two of WiHM’s biggest advocates are those sexy albeit crazy twisted twins, literally The Twisted Twins, Jen and Sylvia Soska. Best known for their unapologetic attitude toward horror, and female-driven genre films Dead Hooker in a Trunk and the recent cult success American Mary.
Back in 2010, the inaugural year of WiHM, the Soska Sisters were struggling to get their first film Dead Hooker the attention it deserved. After being introduced to Hannah and forming an instantaneous bond, they were immediately on board with the idea to spend an entire month celebrating women in horror.
“I firmly believe that there is the family you are born with and the family you find in life that you were always meant to. Because of that, we were involved with WiHM from the very beginning and it was the first time our film was played at Nia Edwards-Behi’s GHOULS ON FILM Festival.” Jen Soska tells BD.
It’s clear that WiHM isn’t just about watching female driven horror movies and reading Agatha Christie or Mary Shelley, it’s a way to find that family Jen speaks of, engage with women and men alike who share a love and appreciation for females in the genre.
But it’s quite possible that the most important aspect of WiHM is recognizing those females who have shaped the genre into what it has become today. Sylvia tells BD it’s not just about recognizing women who’ve pioneered the genre but also those who are shaping modern cinema in the present “and encouraging those who will be the future of women in the industry.” While Jen agrees with her sister, she adds another very important point. “[WiHM is crucial] to promote equality that does NOT mean any unfounded sexism towards men as there are many men that are wonderful feminists and supporters of women.”
Some of you may be rolling your eyes, thinking that a whole month to celebrate women in horror is superfluous. Maybe you think it goes against feminism or promotes females in an unflattering light. But for many women working in such a male dominated field—this month is another step toward complete equality in the horror genre.
Sylvia remembers earlier days when she was spoken down to and degraded based on her gender. “The outlandish, unspeakable disrespect and unnecessary struggles really opened my eyes to what unacceptable behaviour is still going on. I will always speak out against it. It’s ridiculous in this day and age not to have equal treatment in the working world in any industry.”
Jen points out that sexism is still a big enough problem in the genre that we tend to turn a blind eye to it, we think, it’s expected, so why fight it? “It’s almost become so common that people say stupid shit like, ‘You’re a woman in this business, you just have to get used to it.’ Fuck that and anyone who believes it.” Jen tells BD.
WiHM is not only a lesson in sexism but also a form of education to many who love the genre but are unaware of the strong female involvement (outside of big-breasted chicks running from psychos and machetes in underwear and heels). Jen says, “Before WiHM, even though I consider myself a feminist indeed, I had no idea about [the] women that shaped this industry like Alice Guy, Dorothy Arzner, and numerous others.”
Take the opportunity that this month provides to educate yourself not only on women in horror filmography but also female horror authors, artists, and everything in between. Throw your own female-driven film fest, select a female-authored horror book for your book club, support independent female artists with a taste for the macabre. And possibly MOST importantly… donate blood!
“It’s an event that goes hand-in-hand with horror that can give back and literally save lives.” Sylvia tells BD. Jen adds, “I’ve always wanted to see the horror community support blood donation. It seemed like a no brainer and I wanted WiHM to have a cause to give to. [A cause] that would take guts—as many of us do not care for needles. Donating blood is just about the most selfless thing someone can do. It’s truly being a hero and there is no substitute for blood.”
So go on and celebrate! Check out the website and look for WiHM events in your area. “This year I am so especially excited about the diverse locations [of WiHM events], USA, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Scotland, and beyond. There is a thriving amount of blogs, podcasts, and other media being generated about women in all areas of the horror arts,” says Hannah.
Happy Women in Horror Recognition Month!
Editorial by – Bree Ogden
The penultimate season of Tales from the Crypt (1989–1996) aired its first three episodes on October 31, so it’s understandable that at least one of those three stories is set on Halloween.
Sandwiched between “Let the Punishment Fit the Crime” (Russell Mulcahy, Ron Finley) and “Whirlpool” (Mick Garris, A. L. Katz & Gilbert Adler) is the most severe episode of the bunch. Maybe the entire series? William Malone and Dick Beebe’s “Only Skin Deep” traded the show’s typical sense of fun for startling amounts of bleakness and kink.
“Only Skin Deep” is, apart from the Crypt Keeper’s intro and outro, noticeably unfunny. There are no considerable attempts at making the viewer laugh. Come to think of it, if those bookends had been replaced, and there was more of a sci-fi element in the story, HBO could have easily squeezed this tale into that successor anthology, Perversions of Science (1997). In Crypt, though, “Only Skin Deep” is much too grim for an audience that had become accustomed to campiness and levity.
What makes “Only Skin Deep” feel dark, among other things, is its protagonist. Showing up to a Halloween party where he’s not welcome, and where his former girlfriend (Diane DiLasco) is attending, Carl Schlag (Peter Onorati) first comes across as your standard bitter ex. You soon realize it’s much worse than that, once Carl threatens Linda (“You know, silly me, thinking I gave you what you deserved. If I’d have done that, I’d have killed you”). Now, I haven’t forgotten that Tales from the Crypt was teeming with vile men who did women harm. Yet Carl’s brand of misogynistic menace hits differently—it borders on being too realistic for this kind of series.
Mike Vosburg’s EC-style comic cover for “Only Skin Deep”, as seen in the Tales from the Crypt episode.
Despite donning a party mask for much of the episode, Carl can’t ever mask his true nature. The invitation did say “come as you are”, after all. That inability to change and be better, however, is why Carl ends up in such a karmic predicament. His outburst of anger at the party attracts the attention of one loner partygoer named Molly (Sherrie Rose, who was also in Season Four’s “On a Deadman’s Chest”). Her bone-white, featureless “mask” and body-bag costume don’t initially register as too strange, especially on a night like this. But at a party chock-full of colorful, cartoonish, and lighthearted ensembles, it does look out of place.
Darkness attracts darkness as Carl ditches the party and accompanies the mysterious Molly to her place. Which, by the way, should have been an immediate red flag. But perhaps she’s so hot, he doesn’t seem to mind the serial killer aesthetic. Resembling a warehouse that has been converted into living spaces, but never then decorated to remove the cold, industrial look, Molly’s home (or lair) is as gloomy as this whole episode feels. It’s like the set of a grungy music video, albeit a tad cleaner. The environments in a typical Crypt episode tend to be small, overfilled, and broken-in. Warm, regardless of any weird goings-on. All that empty space in Molly’s hovel, on the other hand, elicits a creepy feeling that Carl was unwise to ignore.
Tales from the Crypt featured more sex than it didn’t, but hands down, “Only Skin Deep” boasts the steamiest scene in the show’s history. Pushing it over the line, in addition to Onorati showing bare buns and the camera never turning down one of his pelvic thrusts, is the twisted dirty talk. Carl stays in the moment, whereas Molly unleashes charged lines like “the hurt, the anger, give it to me” and “take it out on my flesh like you want to”. It’s all quite kinky, as well as tied into the story’s theme of pain.
How else “Only Skin Deep” differs from other episodes is its twists. Or rather, its lack thereof. Nothing comes as a great surprise here, particularly because the deuteragonist’s ulterior motives are so obvious. By no means is Molly a wolf in sheep’s clothing; her face is a fright mask, she practically reeks of death, and she lives in what can best be described as a serial killer’s hideout. That last-act revelation of Molly’s mask really being her face is also nothing shocking. Cleverness is certainly not this episode’s strength.
A page from “…Only Skin Deep!”, as seen in EC Comics’ Tales from the Crypt.
While “Only Skin Deep” isn’t the most universally loved episode of Tales from the Crypt, it’s an interesting preview of William Malone’s future as a director. Most notably, he went on to helm House on Haunted Hill (1999) and FeardotCom (2002), the former of which was co-written by Dick Beebe, this episode’s writer. Dark Castle Entertainment, that genre house founded by Crypt producers Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler, was instrumental in bringing out Malone’s gruesome, over-the-top vision in House on Haunted Hill. However, FeardotCom and Malone’s Masters of Horror episode, “Fair-Haired Child”, are the most stylistically compatible with “Only Skin Deep”.
As one might guess, this episode is nothing like its source material. The “…Only Skin Deep!” found in the pages of EC Comics is set during Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and save for its last couple of pages, is pretty sweet in nature. There, a man named Herbert is enamored with a woman he met five years prior to the present-day story. Every year, he has come down to Mardi Gras to see Suzanne, who’s always dressed as a hag-faced witch. Well, this time, Herbert plans on popping the question and marrying someone who is, for the most part, a total stranger. Suzanne accepts his proposal, but with one condition: they stay in costume until they’re officially hitched. You can probably see where this is going…
Once they are married, Suzanne remains incognito, even when she and Herbert have consummated their vows. A semi-predictive nightmare then rattles Herbert; he dreamt that Suzanne’s real face was as wizened as her mask. Finally, in his haste to find out the truth, Herbert winds up killing his new wife. Faceless and well on her way to bleeding out, the dying Suzanne manages to say she never wore a mask.
For more traditional EC-style ghastliness, your best bet is reading the comic. It’s wickedly sad. For something less conventional, as far as Tales from the Crypt goes, the role-reversing adaptation is worth watching. It’s not the best this show had to offer, although Malone’s visual style, plus the sexual abandon, does set the episode apart. If nothing else, “Only Skin Deep” leaves an impression that, even years later, shows no signs of fading.
Season Six of Tales from the Crypt can be streamed on Shudder, starting on June 5.
Tales from Tales from the Crypt celebrates the show’s Shudder premiere by singling out one episode from each season. So don’t even think about changing that dial, boys and ghouls. More spot-“frights” are to come.
Carl discovers Molly’s collection of human ‘masks’ in the Tales from the Crypt episode, “Only Skin Deep”.
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