Editorials
[31 Days of Halloween] Day Thirteen: Unsettling Sci-fi Horror ‘Honeymoon’
It’s day 13 out of 31 in our Halloween celebration. More importantly, it’s Sunday. That means it’s a Wild Card pick. While Halloween is typically associated with witches, ghosts, devils, and pumpkins, today we’re looking back at one of the decade’s best sci-fi horror movies; Leigh Janiak’s feature debut Honeymoon. There’s no jump scares or quick terror, just slow-building dread and some unsettling horror centered around what should be the happiest time in a young couple’s life- their honeymoon. After the film’s 2014 release, Janiak worked on horror series Outcast and Scream, but it looks like the new decade will mark her return to features in Fear Street films. That only makes this revisit all the more fitting.
Synopsis: Young couple Bea and Paul have just married and have set out to a secluded lakeside cabin in the woods for their honeymoon. Despite some strange behavior from the locals, their honeymoon is off to a swimming start. Until Bea goes missing in the middle of the night. Paul finds her naked and disoriented in the woods, with no memory of how or why she got there. Her behavior only grows more distant and bizarre from there, and a concerned Paul tries to solve the mystery of what’s happening to his wife.
Key Players: Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie is Bea, and Penny Dreadful’s Harry Treadaway is Paul. Ben Huber and Hanna Brown make up the rest of the cast in this tiny feature.
Why It’s on the List: This selection brings some variety to the 31 Days of Halloween, in tone and subgenre. It’s a small feature, which means small cast and a quiet, meditative style, but Leslie and Treadaway turn in some captivating performances that keep you engaged. Janiak doesn’t wait long to give you an inkling of what’s happening, but she keeps the audience off-kilter enough with dramatic shifts that means it’s difficult to predict how everything will end. And if you’ve never seen this before, there’s no way to prepare for how disturbing things will get. Paranoia, intense emotion, and some seriously creepy moments. Horror has taught us time and time again to steer clear of the woods, but Honeymoon presents a wholly new and unique reason to steer clear.
Who Did Paul Marry?: The stranger that Bea behaves, the more Paul begins to question who he actually married. Understandably. But this is a horror movie, and those answers come with a whole set of their own problems. And they’re best discovered going in blind. So no clip, but here’s a tease.
Where You Can Watch: Honeymoon is currently available on Shudder, Magnolia Selects, and Hulu streaming services.
Editorials
‘The Vampire Lestat’ Concert Event Launches New Season With The Ultimate Expression Of Fandom
There are thousands of passionate fans decked out in gothic chic and champing at the bit like feral creatures. They’re screaming for Lestat, a legendary vampire-turned-rock star, as if the entire crowd has been glamored into submission.
The entire experience is magic, but not because some supernatural thrall has been activated. What’s going on is even more special. It’s the power of the effusive fandom that’s been authentically assembled by AMC’s sublime Immortal Universe, namely Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, now, The Vampire Lestat.
The Vampire Lestat is far from the first Anne Rice adaptation, and it’s not as if there’s been a lack of erotic vampire material for audiences to sink their teeth into. On June 2nd, during a one-night-only spectacle, New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre shook from Sam Reid’s bravado performance and an audience full of adoring fans who had already memorized Lestat’s songs.
It’s clear that The Vampire Lestat just hits differently than its predecessors. It’s become more than just a TV series at this point, and this opulent display of ego, swagger, and pure sex is the perfect way to premiere the new season and give back to the fans who helped make Interview with the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat such a breakout success. It’s exactly the sort of hyperbolized hedonism that would make Lestat cackle.
For all intents and purposes, AMC has successfully created the illusion that this concert/premiere is just one of the many destinations on Lestat and his band’s 54-stop tour that is simultaneously playing out on this season of television. It’s such a sophisticated and thorough level of interactive fan engagement that the audience doesn’t just understand, but also manages to accentuate through its involvement.
It’s a level of seamless synergy that’s not unlike the give-and-take relationship of vampire and victim.
Before the concert started, “LeStans” were sitting in the Beacon and flipping through a fake Rolling Stone issue with Lestat emblazoned on the cover, complete with interviews with the undead frontman inside. Other fans were admiring the vinyl pressing of Lestat’s EP as they walked past a section of undead band merch. Fandom and fantasy blur together, and it all becomes this elaborate, immersive experience. Fan celebration, erotic gothic fantasy, and a lavish rock concert transform into one beautiful thing.
To this point, AMC Global Media’s Chief Content Officer and President of AMC Studios, Dan McDermott, introduced the event by reiterating to fans, “You are the heartbeat of the series.” That’s abundantly clear on nights like this as that heartbeat collectively pulses to this performance. In terms of how AMC engages with The Vampire Lestat’s fans, it’s as bold a reinvention as the season itself.
This intuitive gamble speaks to AMC’s creativity in this department and a fandom that is eager to seize such opportunities. It’s the same innovation that led to zombie walks for The Walking Dead and real-life Los Pollos Hermanos restaurant pop-ups from Breaking Bad. It’s a great way to pump up the audience for The Vampire Lestat and then maintain that enthusiasm for the whole season.
For most series, a rock ‘n’ roll concert just doesn’t make any sense as a promotional tool. The Vampire Lestat finds itself in a very unique position where it can deliver an excellent concert at an iconic theater, but also use it to showcase The Vampire Lestat’s music by Daniel Hart (who was shredding on stage alongside Reid and the rest of their band) and, more than anything, Sam Reid’s endless charisma.
The way in which Reid feeds off of the crowd’s energy, modulating his performance and giving different sections of the Beacon life, is a perfect distillation of the series’ thoughtful relationship with its audience and how it’s become such a breakout success for AMC. AMC Studios President Dan McDermott emphasized that the fans are the reason that the show is still here and why an event like this is even possible. It’s rare to see a series in which every single cog in the machine is so perfectly attuned to its fans. Reid’s fans already cheer whenever they see him, so why not translate that to a concert setting?
It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.
Now bring on the encore and get this show on the road!
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