“Remember This?” is a new feature that highlights cool anecdotes from the horror genre’s storied past. It’ll pop up from time to time, giving your brain a spark of an insane memory before you move on with your day.
A few weeks back I was feeling a little soul sick. Not in a hugely existential way, but the movies I was watching were getting me down. I had watched a bunch of screeners and, while I loved many of them on a critical level, an emotional level and even a visceral level, they just weren’t much fun. I’m not complaining, I know I’m immensely lucky and I wouldn’t trade a “bad” week of watching screeners for a “good” week anywhere else. But after watching a seemingly endless parade of movies that were either incredibly serious, post apocalyptic, or just brutally depressing – I needed a palate cleanser. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for bleak horror, but there are so many other colors to our gruesome tapestry that have increasingly gone unused.
I’m not sure what it is but I sometimes feel like a lot of modern horror filmmakers are trying to “out hardcore” each other in terms of sheer dourness. That’s an odd competition to me. I’d rather see more writers and directors try to top each other in inventiveness, scares, characters, plotting and good old fashioned splatter.
That Friday night, I happened upon Chuck Russell’s 1988 The Blob remake. Written by Frank Darabont (it’s Russell and Darabont’s followup to their success with A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) and starring Shawnee Smith and Kevin Dillon – it was just what I needed. An amazingly fun 1st act, a 2nd act that flew by and a 3rd act that went absolutely apesh*t (with added conspiracy theory)! Lots of gore, interesting characters, a good sense of humor and near perfect pacing. It was such a breath of fresh air.
What about you? There’s all kinds of room for more serious fair, but what are some horror movies you think are truly fun? And are there enough of them?
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[Remember This?] ‘Freddy Vs. Jason’ And Being Careful What You Wish For