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Angela Bettis Won Over Horror Hearts in Lucky McKee’s Cult Classic ‘May’ [You Aughta Know]

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Hello, true believers, and welcome to You Aughta Know, a column dedicated to the decade that is now two full decades behind us. That’s right, it’s time to take a look back at one of the most overlooked decades of horror. Follow along as I do my best to explore the horror titles that made up the 2000s.

It’s the week of February 7th, 2003. George W. Bush is in office and Jennifer Lopez is topping the charts as a major recording artist, with “All I Have” taking over the airwaves. Dance Dance Revolution has become a cultural phenomenon in the videogame industry thanks to its transition over to home console sales. And in theaters, Lucky McKee’s cult classic May is setting itself up for box office failure but eternal reverence in the horror community.

Lucky McKee had made a film straight out of college, nigh-impossible to find now, titled All Cheerleaders Must Die, a low budget supernatural horror comedy (later to be remade by McKee himself in 2013). And he dove straight into making May out of that project.

In a post-Columbine and post-9/11 America, horror movies veered into two very different directions. Some studios looked to lighten things up, play down the violence, and stray away from the prescient feelings that were already weighing heavy on the American people. On the other path, we were given a slew of films that addressed things headfirst, no matter how ugly. McKee uses May to douse us in those feelings and human interactions that make us so uncomfortable: loneliness, bullying, and ostracization.

May grows up bullied and rarely makes friends due to her lazy eye. Her mother makes her a doll that she becomes obsessed with; Suzie, who is a substitute for a best friend for decades. When May finally gets her vision corrected and starts to feel confident in herself, she begins branching out but does so awkwardly and by frequently misreading social cues. After a string of mishaps, all the while taking advice from the inanimate Suzie, May finally reaches a breaking point and lashes out in a deadly and violent manner.

May was and still is unlike any horror film to hit the scene. McKee wrote the movie, inspired by films like The Fisher King and Argento’s oeuvre, and what we are gifted with is a seriously relatable and uncomfortable drama that ramps up into a visceral and raw out-and-out horror movie. McKee shines a spotlight on the harsh truths that society often tries to shy away from, such as pet death and a school for disabled children, and forces the viewer to come face to face with these realities and recognize they are a natural part of life.

Against all odds, McKee crafts a film that is both distinctly rooted in the early 2000s while also feeling timeless. The music, the fashion, hell, even the actors who star in the movie scream early 2000s. Angry industrial and electronic alt-rock play behind off the shoulder tops and flannels over tees. Jeremy Sisto and Anna Farris both pop in for supporting roles, Sisto at the tail end of his nineties cute outcast roles and Farris having found new fame from her role in the Scary Movie franchise, while James Duval (Donnie Darko, SLC Punk) even shows up in an outstanding cameo.

But it’s Angela Bettis who plays our lead and she delivers an absolutely captivating performance. Coming in the wake of highly praised roles in Girl, Interrupted and Bless the Child, Bettis captures a feeling of loneliness that is evergreen. Her desperate attempts to not only just fit in but understand the rites and rituals on how to do so are something everyone struggles with at some point or another and it’s her ability to seem so innocent but on the brink of violence that will suck you in.

May would go on to be a financial disappointment for Lionsgate, pulling in a meager 6.3 thousand dollars against a budget upwards of 1.7 million. While receiving critical acclaim from tough-on-horror critics like Roger Ebert, it’s the lasting impact of May that makes it such a staple now. It’s gone on to become a cult classic, largely thanks to McKee’s effortless nail-biting pacing and an all-time great performance from Bettis, but also because of the film’s unnatural ability to distinctively be a horror movie but not fit perfectly into any one category. It’s got traces of supernatural horror, Frankenstein, slashers and psychological thrillers, and it culminates in perhaps one of the greatest climaxes of the entire decade.

I watched May for the first time for this article and I can tell you right now, it will become the first of dozens of viewings in the years to come.

Editorials

5 Deep Cut Horror Movies to Seek Out in April 2024

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horror
Pictured: 'The Uncanny'

New month, new horror recommendations from Deep Cuts Rising. This installment features selections reflecting the month of April 2024.

Regardless of how they came to be here, or what they’re about, these past movies can generally be considered overlooked, forgotten or unknown.

This month’s offerings include telepathic plants, ecological horrors, and a lot of killer cats.


The Uncanny (1977)

horror

Pictured: The Uncanny (1977)

Directed by Denis Héroux.

The Uncanny is a two-for kind of deal: it works for both National Pet Day (April 11) and Tell a Story Day (April 27). Here we have Peter Cushing‘s character talking at length about the evils of cats, with his three examples fleshing out this singular anthology. And while this film is often mistaken for an Amicus production, it was, in fact, made by The Rank Organisation. However, Amicus co-founder Milton Subotsky was also a co-producer.

The Uncanny has a tendency to be one-note in its execution and story styles; vengeful felines come up more than once in the film. Even so, these macabre, cat-centric segments told in EC Comics fashion are more entertaining than not.

Watch The Uncanny at streaming sites such as SCREAMBOX.


The Kirlian Witness (1979)

horror

Pictured: The Kirlian Witness (1979)

Directed by Jonathan Sarno.

The Kirlian Witness (also known as The Plants are Watching) fits the bill when looking for something to watch on International Plant Appreciation Day (April 13). Similar to Eyes of Laura Mars, this film’s story is built on pseudoscience. More specifically, Kirlian photography. Nancy Snyder‘s character Rilla hopes to use this technique — revealing the energy field, or aura, of people and other animate things — to solve her sister’s murder. However, the only witness to the sister’s death, apart from the mysterious killer, is a plant. Rilla’s bizarre investigation eventually leads her to a startling discovery.

Jonathan Sarno’s film is a certified slow-burn, but it’s also intriguing and good-looking. This oddball of crime-solving horror is, at the very least, unique.

The Kirlian Witness is available for rental/purchase (under its alias) at digital retailers like Apple TV.


Scream for Help (1984)

horror

Pictured: Scream for Help (1984)

Directed by Michael Winner.

For Scream Day this year (April 24), why not visit Scream for Help? In this teenage thriller filtered through Death Wish, a Nancy Drew type suspects her stepfather is up to no good. And when her suspicions are proven right, she and her mother have to fight for their lives.

Scream for Help had the makings of a standard ’80s teen-slasher, but this turned out to be more like an “afterschool special meets home invasion” flick. And a hilarious one at that. It was likely not Michael Winner’s intention for this film to be so laugh-a-minute — star Lolita Lorre, bless her heart, has the funniest deliveries — however, trying to keep a straight face during his cinematic hot mess is impossible. Tom Holland‘s script was straight up murdered. Still and all, this is an entertaining disasterpiece that would have been an entirely different film had the original director, Richard Franklin, stayed on (rather than going off to direct Link).

The HD restoration of Scream for Help is available on Blu-ray from Scream Factory, but the digital version is standard-def.


Penumbra (2012)

Pictured: Penumbra (2012)

Directed by Ramiro García Bogliano & Adrián García Bogliano.

While it’s advised not to stare at the sun during the solar eclipse on April 8, fans of satirical horror are encouraged to give Penumbra, an Argentinian-Mexican film featuring an imminent solar eclipse, a watch. The unsubtle artwork suggests a straightforward survival story, however, the actual product is quite different and twisty. Cristina Brondo plays a prickly businesswoman who may have made her last sale; her new client has ulterior motives.

Surely some viewers will be put off by the protagonist of Penumbra, whose behavior in anticipation of the ominous eclipse is problematic. Yet, strangely enough, her being an imperfect victim adds something to the film, whereas a more pristine character would have made the whole experience less gripping.

Penumbra is currently available on AMC+.


Strange Nature (2018)

Pictured: Strange Nature (2018)

Directed by James Ojala.

For a less known eco-horror film to watch this Earth Day (April 22), Strange Nature tells its story with both urgency and force. Here, the late Lisa Sheridan (of FreakyLinks) played a struggling single mother looking into a local anomaly: mutated frogs. Soon enough, the cause of this abnormality extends beyond the water and creates other threats for the town’s human residents.

This truly indie production has its obvious limitations, yet the story — one based on a real life incident in Minnesota — and characters compensate for any visual flaws. The practical effects for the mutant beast are also admirable, given the meager resources available.

Strange Nature is currently streaming on Tubi.


No genre is as prolific as horror, so it’s understandable that movies fall through the cracks all the time. That is where this recurring column, Deep Cuts Rising, comes in. Each installment of this series will spotlight several unsung or obscure movies from the past — some from way back when, and others from not so long ago — that could use more attention.

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