Musings on Black Christmas (2019)

With the snow and unpleasantness upon us I had a hankering to watch Black Christmas. My beloved stopped me and made the pitch that we should save it. I agreed, but the itch was still there, so I thought I’d finally dive into to the 2019 reimagining from Blumhouse.

This film got far too much heat, so to speak, from the critics and fandom alike.  I’ll preface by saying I did not love the flick but not at all for all the hyperbolic reasons swirling around last year.  One of the obvious reasons the horror fandom reacted badly as per usual: A Remake.  The mindset of horror fans on this issue is so schizophrenic.  We love some remakes, detest others – why it’s almost as if people enjoy some film and not others.

The original Black Christmas (1974) is undoubtedly a classic and a very important footnote in any horror fans big book of important horror movies; particularly Slasher movies.  This film maintains the story only insomuch as it involves a fraternity, sorority and takes place on a fictitious college campus during Christmas vacation.  The 2019 incarnation departs from the original villain being a hidden killer or killers and has the holiday-ruining evil come in the form of a cult with supernatural properties and world dominating ambitions.

This is where the film lost me – and not because they drastically diverged from the 1974 original or its oddball 2006 sequel.  An unpleasantly large amount of folks online took to burying this film solely on the basis that it was female driven and dealt with specific issues of social justice. Directed by Sophia Takal and written by April Woolfe, that aforementioned swath of keyboard warriors crusaded against the film by assuming the film itself was a crusade.

The film tackles misogyny, rape-culture and the enabling of offenders. I assume, because of that, a lot of angry insecure men felt the film was a knock against them.  I thought it was a great subplot.  Good horror often tackles with issues we find challenging as we are living through them. Some folks took the position that film shouldn’t be made with an agenda.  I respect that thinking to the degree that I, personally, prefer things a little more subtle.

It isn’t that Black Christmas should not have tackled sexual assault or enabling culture on campus.  It just hit the viewer over the head with it.  Or perhaps it didn’t, but we were struggling with how it lines up with the original the entire time we watched it.  Had this film been called something other than Black Christmas I think it would have played a lot different.  The concept of an old boys’ club actually being an evil misogynistic cult is a great plot.  The film fell victim to toxic folks online who can’t handle any social commentary with their film. Yet, that same crowd all praise classic horror full of social commentary – the just don’t like it when the commentary could possibly apply to them.

Coming Soon – Hopefully

The teaser for Craft: The Legacy (2020) has dropped. A VOD release during the pandemic as part of Blumhouse’s effort to own October.  And, to the surprise of no one, movie and horror Twitter lost their hive mind.  On its face that is totally fine, maybe even beneficial – free press, even negative press, still draws always needed attention to a new film.

People, you know them, saw the poster and concluded: “boo remake” and “boo it’s not the same as when I saw it as a teenager…”.  Well, I’m not relitigating why remakes can be just fine and dandy.  I will point out that if we read the title of the film, which contains the word “Legacy”, we aren’t dealing with a remake. It’s not like that slows down some of the Twitter filmdom or horror fandom elements.

The film industry has been distressed for months now.  The future of many production companies and scads of jobs are genuinely up in the air. I don’t say that to scare you into worry for your favourite movie star or director.  Obviously, the rich folks are gonna be just fine – they just may be on a hiatus.  Studios coming out of the pandemic are going to have a hard time looking at any new project that doesn’t guarantee significant return.  As consumers we need to be aware that all of this means a lack of new films. 

To trash a film sight unseen is really not helpful right now.  That doesn’t mean you have to see the new Craft movie.  It also doesn’t mean that if you do see it, and don’t enjoy it you have to pretend you enjoyed it, or keep silent.  Horror fans rally together because we know full well that, though we have horror films celebrated at the odd award show, the genre is not beloved by everyone. Horror movies have always faced threats from puritanical moralists, censors and highbrow critics who always want to denigrate the genre.

Support folks in the genre. Pay for a movie, watch it and THEN tell us what you think.

(photo credit https://bloody-disgusting.com/)

Topical

Being Topical

 

I finally got around to seeing the Host (2020) and I must say I was not disappointed.  Actually, a lot of folks in the horror social media-verse, were pleasantly surprised.  I have to wonder why that was. I think horror movie fans are not any different from the fans of any type of film, art or even sports for that matter.

Host has notes of a found footage film though shot on a Zoom call.   This multi-screen setup was not the very first of its kind but it is very well executed.  The acting is strong with character dialogue feeling pretty authentic; particularly if you have hosted a Zoom meeting for work for your old 9-5. The audio is perfect with the garble and delay of streaming hosts being used for terrifying effect. I was genuinely struck by the concept which, again, is not new for the genre but really well illustrated.  And can we talk about the run-time?  Fast baby. Under and hour and yet the pacing feels just right.

Host is ambitious as it is dealing with a current crisis and not one we are few years removed from.  The pandemic flick shot during the pandemic.  I am inclined to think this is what really bolsters the movie’s appeal.  Had Host come out a year or two from now, even with all its cleverness, I think some genre fans would scroll past it.  I can’t help to think of As Above, So Below (2014) which I personally avoided for three some odd years with nothing more than the snobbish contention of “found footage has peaked”.  I now sing the praises of that film as a hidden gem for anyone who likes the horror genre in general.

The use of a pandemic quarantine for horror and science fiction films as a plot-devices is almost as inevitable as broken folding tables at a Buffalo Bills tailgate.  That being said, when the reality of the shutdown began in mid-March 2020, I would have assured you that you will see two subgenres of horror/science fiction: zombies and killer viruses.  They are coming, perhaps in big studio format in a year or two, or perhaps VOD and surely more found footage.  I can also predict fans and the fussier critics at large will quickly bemoan: “too soon”.

As of the time of this little post there are over 157,000 U.S. deaths from the COVID-19 virus.   Roughly 19 years ago I recall newscasters and film critics in agreement that no one should really touch a terrorism plot in Hollywood for a least 10 years after the September 11^th attacks.   They did not honour that pact and they wont this time.  If horror is an outlet for fans to deal with the actual horrible things in everyday life, waiting respectfully will miss the point.

Making art that deals with the present is not without huge risk.  Everything from movies to monologues can be tasteless. That being said, I do not want to see horror filmmakers pull back in the pursuit of good taste and acceptability.  We also have to be cognizant that it is never one crisis at a time.

Following the death of George Floyd, the social justice movement in America (and many parts of the world) was invigorated. From another high profile police brutality case, Americans are again looking at systemic racism, and potential ways to alleviate it, to varying degrees of success.

The new installment of Candyman (2020) helmed by Nia DaCosta is already being heralded as an important social commentary as was its predecessor.  The Candyman mythos was always a very clever amalgamation of Freddy Kruger like boogeyman urban legend, with a victim suffering a similar horrific and cruel end like Emmet Till and countless other victims of hate crimes.  The series Lovecraft Country (2020) based on the 2016 novel of the same name takes place in 1950s, during the tail end of the Jim Crow period.  This series follows black characters embarking on journey though both a dangerous racist landscape and one beset with Lovecraftian monsters.  A fitting new take for a master of the horror genre and an ardent bigot himself.

Horror grappling with current and old wounds is nothing new and we love it for that very reason.  It is not a new conjecture that the Rod Serlings and Gene Roddenberrys tackled stories dealing with social justice in horror and science fiction because the big three networks of the time would never have tolerated a dramatic piece dealing with same.

Oh yeah, and Romero.

 

The Deepness

 

I will admit I am very late to this party but I finally took in Underwater (2020).   Initially I think a lot of us were jonesing for ‘aquatic horror’ and this film delivers that in spades.   The cruel inhospitable habitat of the deep sea – atmosphere, pressure, darkness, isolation – Underwater plays on all these familiar threats in the sub-genre.  Some critics were very quick to pan Underwater as being derivative. In retrospect, I think it is a love letter.

Leviathan 1989, released in the same infamous year of so many other fishy movies, was criticized for being an Alien 1979 knockoff.  Now I know Alien.  Alien is a movie I consider a kind of horror/sci-fi comfort film; I will always watch it.  I’ll pull it out of my library, watch it on a streaming service, on tv – and I’ll watch it at the beginning, middle or end.   I’ve owned multiple anniversary additions, listened to the director’s commentary and watched the different cuts.   So yes – I am aware of the similarities of Leviathan and see how people will argue it is ‘Alien underwater’.  Something to consider though when we point out the films’ similarities; they were released a decade apart – in the 80s.

When Leviathan came out, if you recall, not everyone owned it on VHS.  We couldn’t grab it out of the reduced bin at our favourite big box store and there were no streaming services paid or black market.  Though certainly were some folks with an encyclopedic knowledge of Alien, but the average movie goer likely did not have the same level of recall.

When Underwater was released, in the sucktastic year of our lord 2020, the movie goer had seen Alien, likely Leviathan and all the aquatic sci-fi and horror movies in the 1989 pantheon.   The film is well aware that we will compare it to the Abyss 1989 and others.  It begins in a state of emergency and maintains the pace – almost deliberately attempting to avoid the slower burn of Alien and Leviathan.  This film was made for people who loved Alien, loved Leviathan and those who think no one has made a more realistic deep-sea joint than the Abyss.   It is a love letter to the genre or sub-genre.  There is no secret that we can spot plot components of other films- it wants us to see them so we can pat ourselves on the back for being genre fans.

Dystopianstravaganza !!

There are no shortage of recommendations to keep busy in this festive Season of Social Distancing.  Keeping busy and helping flatten the curve is a great thing, and I am all for whatever makes you happy whilst doing same. For example, I have learned my favourite season of Ru Paul’s Drag Race is All-Stars Season 2. Many people are doing jigsaw puzzles, painting windows and reading books. Social media is filled with recommendations for must-reads. I prefer to focus on books’ cooler rich cousin:  movies. There are a plethora of films that focus on circumstances similar to those in which we find ourselves in these strange days.

If we are talking dystopian or apocalyptic horror, zombies are a staple. Full of ‘sickening’ themes of isolation, xenophobia, class warfare, the collision of politics and/or religion with science, zombie movies are perfect for quarantine viewing.  There is even one titled “Quarantine” for goodness sake. Little did these film makers know, we would be living quarantine life in 2020.

This got me thinking about how many dates in Science Fiction and Horror I’ve lived through.  I mean we just got through The Purge (March 21^st), and the Ridley Scott masterpiece Blade Runner was set in 2019 –  just last year! Though the world of Blade Runner has a bleakness to it – there were noodles on every corner, A.I. was popping and we had colonized other worlds. Give me the bleak.   2001: A Space Odyssey is sort of an easy one, and if you are born after 2001, I hate your youth but thank you for reading.

Please enjoy this list. Wash your hands, stay inside, and know that we have been through worse:

 

Escape From New York (1981).  Set in 1997, a John Carpenter joint which sees a United States riddled with crime and taking the Draconian measure to turn the city of New York into a giant penal colony.  And of course, the president needs to be rescued from there!  You can’t not have fun watching this movie and Kurt Russel nails this role.

Prince of Darkness (1987).  “…we are transmitting from the year..1..9..9..9” The film is lovingly named by Carpenter fans as part of the ‘Apocalypse Trilogy’ but that’s not why it’s gold.  Carpenter takes a frankly phenomenally high concept and executes is pretty gosh darn well!   The subject broadcast is the cherry on top for me.

Predator 2 (1990). A gang war brings the Predator to 1997 Los Angeles. This flick uses the idea mentioned in the first film’s cannon: That the Predator is drawn by heat and conflict. Supplanting Latin American guerilla conflict with an L.A. drug turf war, the film creates a ‘concrete jungle’ and it works. AND it has some very aware satire of Fox programing in the 90s AND AND it’s got a black male lead in an action movie which we still don’t see much of, even in this decade.

X-Files : Firewalker (1994). Admittedly, I don’t have an exact date mentioned or intimated in the show for this. Also, admittedly, this is not a movie. But gosh darn it, it contains great performances from Bradley Whitford and Shawnee Smith! This episode is thick with paranoia…unknown lifeforms and even the CDC!  Loosely based on the ‘Dante’ NASA program which was in the early 90s – I feel I survived this.

12 Monkeys (1995).  Set one year in the future (1996) where a virus has decimated earths population.  A man from the year 2035 travels back in time in an attempt to stop ecoterrorists (guess their name for 20 bucks!) from releasing said virus and ultimately saving mankind.  This is admittedly hitting a bit too close to home at the moment with the pandemic or perhaps for anyone who currently is working on a time machine.

Ravenous (1999). Criminally underrated with great performances throughout.  Chock full of black humor, themes of isolation, addiction, the lust for power and even a little Manifest Destiny.   The film takes place just after the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) so though we haven’t ‘lived through’ this one – our ancestors did – so I will give it a pass!

 

**Hidden Track**

The Transformers: The Movie (1986). “It is the year 2005…”  I don’t what sort of world was being reflected in this flick as those rascally robots leave earth pretty quick in the plot.  Either way, the animation is gorgeous and it was hard PG for us kids who were used to the relatively clean endings for the tv-show.  And hell, it has Orson Wells and Leonard Nimoy for goodness sake.

 

Thank you for staying home and doing your part. Cheers to Nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming of Age Horror Marathon

Fall is creeping up. (Autumn if you’re fancy ).  We are changing our handles and avatars to ‘Spooky’ themed.  IT Chapter 2 has dropped and it is a tour-de-force.    I must say, in the current cycle of commercially successful horror cinema – the hype machine for IT Chapter 2 has been largely fan driven.   I’ve posted, you’ve posted.  We’ve all posted.

 

The reviews are largely positive from film critics to our social media followers.    Now not everyone has fallen in love with Muschietti’s vision for the film(s), but I think it is fair to say to tackle a book (and prior miniseries) that is largely in the horror fan consciousness is daunting.  Given the subject matter, in my humble estimation he does an excellent job.

I think I need to take a different approach with this review – and not do a review.  As I mentioned earlier,  the Spooky (or Spoopy) season is upon us.  Muschietti is quoted in saying he wanted to do a theatrical run of both Chapter 1 and 2.  Well that’s just fine but before that is released I suspect we will have Blu-ray and digital copies of Chapter 2 (Don’t steal movies, even big releases).

 

Without further adieu , I have comprised a list of ‘coming of age horror’ for you to watch outside of the IT and IT Chapter 2.

 

Coming Of Age Horror Marathon :

 

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985) 85 Minutes

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 : Dream Warriors (1987) 98 Minutes

Let Me In (2010) 116 Minutes

We Are What We Are (2013) 105 Minutes

Ginger Snaps (2000) 108 Minutes

Lost Boys (1987) 85 Minutes

It Follows (2015) 100 Minutes

 

Special Bonus: IT (1990) 178 Minutes

 

By my estimation that’s give or take that’s over 11 hours and if you throw in the original IT miniseries you’re up to 14.  I didn’t include the Monster Squad this time so be cool – To me that is more of a gateway to horror for the kiddos.

You can also arguably swap in the original Let The Right One  In  for Let Me In ( just don’t be that guy who see’s reruns of the Office and tells people the British version is better).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyday is Halloween

If you are a horror fan – even a casual one – you’re aware of subgenres.  Subgenres in film and television never really die but there are certainly cycles.

There hadn’t been a werewolf movie of note for decades before The Howling (1981).  This didn’t mean there wasn’t a single film with a werewolf in the preceding decades, but not one that had the same level of fanfare.  Fans and critics declared the werewolf movie to be ‘back’.  We know a string of films like 28 Days Later (2002) and the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake paved the way for 9 seasons of The Walking Dead, its spinoffs and hypothetical spinoffs.  A zombie subgenre resurgence allowed a full-tilt TV zombie universe.

Horror fans in the last few years are warming back up to what many are calling “Folk Horror”.  Cathartic slow burn movies which, almost by design, cannot have a happy ending. Themes of religiosity, cult mentality, isolation, secret societies and tragic foils all make for a visceral watch.

Most North Americans regardless of current belief – were raised with or exposed to some level of religiosity.  The cults in many of these films present a familiar and comforting guise.  We know it is going to happen – the helpful elders of that small town are going to do something awful – we just don’t know when.

Halloween Kills and Halloween Ends are coming soon and fans are ravenous for closure on the current Laurie Strode vs Michael Myers arc.  Fans of the series might forget that, it too, included a cult story line in several incarnations. Halloween IV (1988) gives us the curse of the ‘Thorn’ story arc. Installments five and six expand on this cult angle and the fans generally bemoan it.   Regardless, number IV is often cited by fans and critics as the non-Carpenter Michael Myers tale that helped bring the franchise back from hiatus.

If I was emperor of Horror Movie Land, I would try to weave some of those elements into the upcoming Halloween movies (how great is it to say ‘upcoming Halloween movies’?).  If we take this current story arc as canon:

• In Halloween Loomis points out that Michael Myers, despite being institutionalized for 15 years, is able to drive a car proficiently.
• If Halloween II-VI do not exist – the 2018 Halloween movie does far more then imply that Dr. Sartain has some evil vested interest in the success and continued existence of Michael Myers.

I don’t believe the Sartain character was written just as a vehicle to allow Michael Myers’ escape and rebirth. Sartain may well have been as insane as his star patient.  I see no gosh-darned reason we can’t have a Thorn-like cult in the new series.  Injecting the dread of a bizarre neopagan cult would be a gamble – but, man, it could turn out awesome.  Imagine an exploration into oddball nurses, sadistic doctors, and strange, creepy goings on in the basement at Smith’s Grove. Sign me up.

Updates between cat photos

Thought I should blog little just to take a break from regular ol’novel writing…and cat pics.

Also I thought given that it’s a new year I’d give some updates. I’ll preface that by saying I don’t really take the end or the beginning of the calendar year as a time to reflect. Try to do that all the time. It’s called neurosis.

New book is chugging along and picking up steam and I do have some side project news too. Somewhere in the near future I am contributing to Jason Gehlert’s upcoming anthology which I am very happy and honoured to be a part of. Haven’t done a short story in awhile and it will be cool to get back on that tangent again.

My publisher is revamping for 2015 which should be very interesting to say the least. I am also, if this counts a resolution, reaching out to more others, particularly within the BBS stable. New authors like myself (not new if you count all my amazing rejected stuff) really do need a support work of other others . I have realized the likelihood of lone-wolfing my way through the literary and genre landscape is very remote. I do very much appreciate all the support I get from author friends and of course anyone who picks up my book.

Oh – and yes I am working the sequels for The Sly Lake Gang they are chugging along too. The ‘world building’ stuff is harder than the title lets on….rest assured I will constantly endeavour to bring Canadian white trash into the global literary landscape.

Cheers

Month of the Dead

I’m not dead. Just sleeping.

Been a wild couple months but happy to report I’m still bopping along on my books.  To the no more than 10 of you who bought my current gem – that should be exciting news.  I don’t have a theme in particular for this post. Something quick and dirty, with the standard lack of editing of the other posts.

First off I am working on a sequel promise more on that.

Got another neat one coming out which (gasp), has no supernatural or Sci-Fi elements so it is harder to write.   That Deus ex machina thing is a massive help. Only thing dirtier ever conceived was the ‘ret-con’. Shudder.

Once again I have no idea what to categorize mystery novel 3 as. (Because I am just too amazing to be categorized. Hah.)  And there are other books that could stand a dusting off and maybe they will see the world if I ever get any better at networking.  The only thing I can say about any of my books is that there will always be an apathetic drunk in there somewhere.

New Books, Bad People and Niceness

Thought I’d do another blog post with very little to talk about and little more than a desire to write.

That’s where most fiction books come from I am pretty sure.  Movies too , but I don’t make movies. I am a writer and therefore a god. Gods don’t collaborate.

I remember reading King on how he doesn’t plot at all. Doesn’t keep a notebook either because if it’s good – he’ll remember it.  He writes without a great deal of the elements sorted out. I like that idea.  If you a writing like that then ‘Worst Case Ontario’, even if you don’t finish or publish the book – it was still a good exercise. Good for your craft and ultimately good for your brain.

One of my favourite scratched to hell CDs is the Tarantino Connection. On it, Tarantino talks about the seed of a movie coming from him hearing a cool song, and painting a scene around.  Then he give’s that scene some context and there you go.  Movie.  I still preface I don’t make movies but I like concept for writing too.  Movies always get in here. I have to work on that.

So I started a sequel to The Sly Lake Gang which if you read it, you can see how I get away with it very tastefully.  But on the side I am working on another novel with no fantastic elements. Still mean and scary though. I have to say that this new gritty one is born out of a general concept – but it also really got going from painting a scene around a great tune. I think if you can’t pick a soundtrack for your book it must not be very engaging.

So I am not one to tease books because frankly I only have one book published.  Heck even blogging to twitter posting about the book feels really awkward to me. Necessary though. So if I was to tease something about the book, can give you a little snippet of where one of the main themes comes from.

My old man and I were watching reruns one day.  I don’t recall how old I was. Small enough the still sit on someone’s lap say. And he was having a beer and watching Columbo.  I had come in towards the middle or the end or I didn’t pay any attention. One of the three.  Doesn’t matter. Columbo was explaining to someone that he likes his job and sometimes likes the people he captures because there is a ‘little niceness in everyone’.  My old man who had said nothing all day up to that point said ‘That’s true’ in a very affirmative tone.

As I aged and did a little reading about serial killers and other types of murders I concluded that meant they learned to mimic behaviours of empathy and so on.  Now that I am older I know what Columbo meant. They can be quite nice despite that they did.