Horror Short - Don't Fall Asleep

The art of the short film is one that's far from the mainstream. They are by definition obscure. But with the internet revolution, filmmakers with no budget at all can shoot and cut a satisfactory short (if the film works, which depends on the writers and directors.

I'd like to focus on some short films, mostly horror shorts.

A Quiet Place - John Krasinski (2018)

All my life, I've associated fear with cinema. I don't know how much of that fear came from growing up in the era of Tobe Hooper's "Poltergeist," Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street," etc. The boy-into-donkey sequence in "Pinnochio" traumatized me as did the trailer of "Poltergeist" which they played before "E.T." Children are easy to scare, at least I sure as hell was, but as we mature we become jaded, desensitized.

But once that element of menace is established, our throats are in the hands of these storytellers, we're at their mercy. To genuinely terrify grown-ups, filmmakers have to work hard to fill us with that much-desired dread. So many turn to gore a lazy response. There are much better ways to successfully thrill, even terrify, horror movie fans. The element of sound is a time-honored method of injecting that bit, turning a bore into an experience where we find ourselves holding our breath.

Right at the start of John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place" it's made clear that nobody here is safe. It's a world where humans are hunted. These blind terrors can hear anything, any small noise and that's how they find their prey, for food or for sport, it doesn't really matter. They can't see, but they don't have to. Their ears are that sensitive and the hunters are that fast.

The Abbot family, with three children just like any family you might come across. In the opening sequence, the Aboots strip a small grocery store/pharmacy for whatever food and medical supplies they need. When the youngest child of the family if he can take a toy, Lee Abbot (John Krasinski) gives it to him, putting a finger against his lips, warning the child to play with it quietly.

Of course, there are other Abbot children. One sister, too young to grasp the gravity of their situation but old enough to take batteries off the shelf to power up a toy. Later, the child turns the toy on, setting off flashing lights and loud sirens, violating the primary rule of survival. What happens next is some of the tightest seconds in recent memory. So now the Abbot family shares a trauma.

Flash forward one year. We can see from Lee's scavenged newspapers' headlines that these creatures have taken the entire planet. That they are indestructible. That they are the end of the world.

The Abbot family still lives in silence and fear. Lee's wife, Evelyn Abbot (Emily Blunt) is expecting a baby which is problematic, to say the least. How the hell could a family survive with a baby? They have managed to keep their children silent, but how can one expect that from an infant?

The rest of the film follows what should have been a typical day for the Abbots in this hopeless, new reality - how they find their food, how they contact their neighbours, how they manage to stay alive. How they learn to enjoy life while walking on a tightrope.

One thing more needs to said about this film - what separates "A Quiet Place" apart from other horror films is that the focus is not only on the monsters but its characters. We come to deeply care for the Abbot family.

"A Quiet Place," effectively pins down an atmosphere of un-breathable fear and epic panic right at the start. Krasinski takes us to a place where making a sound, even a small one, could be fatal. The premise takes us to a malevolent place, how could anybody survive?

Song of the Day - OhGr Is More Than a Trippy Wonderful Singer. He's a Beautiful Actor, Too!

Sometimes, you get a wonderful rare treat that comes straight of your favorites.

Darren Lynn Bousman's "Repo: The Genetic Opera" has given me one such performance. Skinny Puppy just so happens to be my third favorite band of all time. So wasn't I just delighted to hear OhGr would be playing one of the evil brother, son of a Capitalist gone wild. That's another reason to love the film: its firm anti-Capitalist stance. But we'll read about that another day.

For now, enjoy this song with Bill Moseley, Paris Hilton and OhGr in a cute, nihilistic romp.

Pavi Largo: "Ask a gentern who they prefer, ten out of nine will say "The Pavi!" The most dashing, panty-snatching. I will leave your diapers dripping! Two hearts! Mark it up! Pavi steals all of the hearts."

Quote of the Day: Who's Afraid of Stuntman Mike?

Stuntman Mike: "It was a fifty-fifty shot on whether  you'd be going left or right. You see we're both going left. You could have just as easily been going left, too. And if that was the case...it would have been a while before you started getting scared. But since you're going the other way, I'm afraid you're gonna have to start getting scared...immediately!"

The Sexual Politics of "It"

Andy Muschietti's elegant adaptation of Stephen King's "It," in summer 2017, was warmly accepted by critics and audiences alike. But it was a horror film and didn't really spark of a debate on sexual politics or the nature of fear.

Most people don't associate horror films with social messages, but there are exceptions.

In February 2017, Jordan Peele offered up a perfect retort to our current national policy of "Trickle Down Racism." "Get Out" was the most political, meaningful film of 2017.

Likewise, last summer's explosively popular "It" has a lot to say about the feminism inherent in the way Beverly (Sophia Lillis) is portrayed. "It" is a progressive and unique look at the sexualization that every woman faces as they come of age.

The thought of Beverly's transformation from child hood to womanhood terrifies Beverly. The bulk of the film is relatively bloodless. The boys' fear comes in the form of sickness and suffers. But blood symbolizes Beverly's fear. When the concept of blood, after buying her first tampons, enters her life, the attention, even subservience, of all of her male friends shows its bizarre nature. They clean up her menacing, bloody bathroom without question. They would never question it. No matter what she said, the boys would be her servants. Why?

Critics of the film and the 1986 novel accuse the story of sexualizing children. To the contrary, it offers a decidedly woman's point of view that every teenage boy needs to see. It takes the focus off themselves and makes them think of what it really is to be a woman, or at least the hurdles Beverly faces.

An article from last summer on the website by Aja Romano: "It: the most surprising scene in the movie has nothing to do with clowns,"goes into a very particular and open study of the imagery of the film. The article digs down into a young woman's fear and how that fear is so bloody. Literally.

The Girl With All the Gifts - Colm McCarthy (2017) Some Say Children Are Our Future. I Say They Are Bloody Disgusting

I have not watched a zombie movie in a couple of years now. Face it. The universe has been saturated with zombies everywhere, in TV, movies and video games. We can't even read Jane Austen without bloody zombies being crammed down our throats. I, for one, am burned out.

Still, I have wished for a zombie flick that could peak my interest and rekindle that fire I used to have for those brain-eaters. So I watched "The Girl With all the Gifts" in the hope of the genre hadn't been ruined forever for me. I was drawn in by several hooks in this ambitious zombie flick.

Right at the start of "The Girl with all the Gifts," we know that we are in a dark universe. We're met with children who are treated poorly. Their heads are strapped down tight in wheelchairs, pushed around by soldiers who, mostly, won't speak with them or acknowledge them. The soldiers just refer to the children as "abortions".

It's obvious that these children are capable of the most wondrous kinds of art and intelligence. Melanie (Sennia Nanua) is one of these children. She just might be the brightest among them. Melanie's teacher, Helen, (Jemma Erterton), is willing to risk her life to nurture these kids.

Still, it's curious how government goes to great efforts to educate these little bastards, or abortions, as the soldiers like to call them. And why do all the grown-ups seem so terrified?

Every zombie movie has an "oh crap" moment when we see the military or doctors or whoever's in charge make a stupid mistake allowing the zombies take over in a matter of minutes. If it's a good movie, these moments are chilling.

Then here comes the "oh crap" moment.

We watch the moment from Melanie's POV in an operating room, knowing the true chaos, bloody and deadly is right outside their door, just in our periphery.

Normally films like these are about protecting weak children from the monsters. This film flips that coin. "The Girl With all the Gifts" is about child zombies. At least some of them can reason and the story is told from a zombie's point of view.


Somehow, through all the carnage, Melanie manages to escape with Helen, a soldier, (Paddy Considine) and the woman in charge of the medical experiments, Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close).

Helen and Melanie escape together, each helping the other through the genocidal battle.

Melanie, is more than an infected zombie. She actually might be their salvation. Melanie protects the group from zombie attacks. Monster or no, Helen nurtures some maternal feelings toward Melanie.

"Neonates" is the term for babies born zombies. Babies of infected mothers who ate themselves out of the womb. Melanie is one of these children. 

"The Girl With all the Gifts" is about the value of life. Why do some people deserve to live, violent scavengers or not, while others can be cast aside because of the way they're born? It's hyperbolic and an extreme example used to prove a point, but that point is a good one. With all of man's ambition, this need for power comes with a very real danger that could literally end everything.

The telling point lies in a question Melanie asks Helen. Why should the humans be the ones allowed to keep their place on their planet? She argues that since zombies are now sentient creatures, they have as much right as humans to dominate the world. 

Now, I don't want to be the guy who's rooting for the zombies, but I had to stop and think. Why should human life as a species take precedence over a world run by zombies? As a human, of course I want us to remain dominant. But as I address the point of view of a sentient zombie like Melanie, I can't think of a good argument to retort.

Then I remembered, they're zombies. They eat brains. Go humans.

Backcountry - Adam MacDonald (2015)

If you are willing to put yourself into the hands of a great storyteller, they can do wonderful and terrible things for you just with the backdrop of their story. If you rely on a mediocre storyteller, you are in for a tedious experience. So what advantages can a filmmaker take with the characters' surroundings? In the right hands, they can terrify you so deeply that you'll never, say, go into the water again ("Jaws") or never take another shower ("Psycho".)

So is Adam MacDonald up to the task? Does "Backcountry" do for the woods what "Jaws" did for the water?

Alex (Jeff Romp) has wonderful childhood memories about hiking and camping at a beautiful lake deep into the forest with his family. Now, he wants to share this place with his girlfriend, Jenn (Missy Peregyrn.)


So there's our background. We are in the woods where one can get turned around and lost or get into all sorts of trouble like meeting a threatening stranger or a bear. Our heroes deal with the fear of the uncivilized world.

First, they come across a stranger, Brad (Eric Balfour) who seems nice at first and has a campfire dinner with him: fresh fish. It's a sequence we have seen played out countless times. The stranger and our heroes laugh with each other, then the stranger turns rude, then aggressive. It's a trick used by suspense/thriller films as far back as any of use remember.

When they part ways, that specific threat is gone. Alex and Jenn only face the unknown of the wilderness.

Every time there is a small emergency, or the couple gets a fright, you expect them to turn around and go home like any of us would do. But of course, these guys are horror film protagonists and therefore, by definition, stupid. 

So they plow through the woods until they find their destination. But Alex doesn't seem to have the memory he used to. They can't find Alex' beloved lake. The're in the wrong place with no map, no cell phone, no food and no way out.

To put it simply, they're lost. At about the half-way point, the question of what is the most terrifying thing in the woods is answered: BEARS. Bears are the scariest things in the woods.

At the beginning of the "Backcountry," Alex teases Jenn about bringing bear spray with them. Turns out bear spray is no joke.

But if a bear is determined to drag you off somewhere into the woods, spray or no spray, he will most likely get his way.

It comes down to how fast can you run, how high can your crawl and how healthy is your will to live?

When "Backcountry" starts, you'll see some potential in the film.

Their interaction with Brad, the creepy stranger they came across in the first act, showed promise. That sequence was admittedly tight and menacing.

After that, all attempts at horror or suspense fall flat. We are left with a tedious exercise of a filmmaker trying in vain to build a successful suspense/thriller. But there is really no suspense here. We just sit there and to think to ourselves, "Could the bear just eat these two pricks so I can go make a sandwich?"

So skip the movie and you make that sandwich. You deserve.

I'm not sure why I took the energy to write about this, but I did, so the least you can do is skim it. Here you go.

My "Split" Decision - M. Night Shyamalan (2017) I am of Two Minds About This

I find myself facing a dilemma.

Earlier this year, M. Night Shyamalan released his latest film, "Split," which was received with both commercial success and critical acclaim.

I refused to watch it because I'm tired of people being entertained by DID and mental health in general. I find it debasing.

Now that the film continues to receive such intense praise, I kind of want to see it.

So, do I stick by my convictions and continue refusing to watch "Split?" Or do I give in to temptation and watch an admittedly offensive film?

I'm sure you'll find out soon which side I'm leaning towards.

Why I am Happy With the Casting of "It" - Andrés Muschietti (2017) Spoiler: Bill Skarsgård is Pennywise

When I heard they were making a new film adaptation of Stephen King's "It," I thought a lot about who they would get to play the part of Pennywise the Clown. Could they find anyone who could be as truly terrifying as Pennywise?

Now, that is a tall order. We are talking about concentrated evil, and a master of nightmares like no other. I am not just harping on the fact that he is a popular culture icon. I am speaking about my own personal fright.

When I read this book, I was about the same age as the children are in the story. That forced me relate to the story and the terror exceptionally well. I have not read it since, but it traumatizes me to this day. Like I said, Pennywise is a master of nightmares. I can not think of a better way of stating it.

When one asks what is your biggest fear? I chuckle and say spiders, just to shake off the subject entirely, but it is not true. The truthful answer is Pennywise.

I do not covet the producers of their task of casting Pennywise. Of course the filmmakers could look to the long and tired list of past horror films for the sadistic clown. But my question is: "Who has scared me lately?"

Who could terrorize me as efficiently as this satanic clown who has tormented me my whole life?

I have watched the 2013 TV series "Hemlock Grove" many times over. And every time, Roman Godfrey frightens me more and more.

Played by Bill Skarsgård, Roman wraps all of the horrific events around him to his own desires without empathy for anyone he hurts.

As he slithers through the series, he convinces a lot of people that he is an empathetic and altruistic soul.

He is the ultimate psychopath. He is the perfect hedonist.

This is why he is the immaculate choice to play Pennywise. Both characters are defined by their seduction. This is their weapon, their superpower. Pennywise baits and bribes his victims, letting them get close enough for him to devour them without much fight. They both take their personas directly from Satan, who created the concept of seduce and torment.

I may be eating my own words once we all see "It," but I really believe Bill Skarsgård will effectively paralyze the children in the movie, as well as those of us in the audience.

Also, I have to admit that if I were a teenage girl, Skarsgård would totally be my celebrity crush.

The Monster Project Trailer 2017

This actually looks frightening. However, non-frightening, lame-ass movies like "Paranormal
Activity" and "The Blair Witch Project" have left me wary of the whole 'found footage' sub-genre. But I truly think I might dig this. (Hence my sharing it with you.")

The Autopsy of Jane Doe - André Øvredal (2016) Revenge of an objectified woman

Some genre pics are just that. Formulaic horror, action, sci-fi, romantic comedies, etc. give the fans of their genre what they want and to hell with everyone else.

So it is important to recognize a genre film when it breaks the boundaries and speaks to something important to a wider audience.

And "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" has something to say.

Normally, when you see an autopsy in a crime film or in a horror movie, the horror is diluted. There is a protective wall, shielding us from the real suffering that was endured. Not here. Director André Øvredal puts us through so much we can not simply pass these events we are watching off as just another horror film.

The victim is already dead, so there's nothing to prevent. And a mortician does not have to worry about the trickier aspects of murder. It is just how and when. Never why. "Jane Doe" has tunnel vision at first, highlighting only one aspect of a murder: the autopsy.

The first act focuses on the concept of morbid curiosity. The approach is aggressive, but it works.

The film opens with the police making a grizzly discovery. Several people were killed messy and one victim is half-buried in the basement. The cops need to find out what happened to her. It's critical to the investigation.

The head cop brings the body straight to the local mortician, Tommy (Brian Cox.)

Tommy and Austin (Emile Hirsch,) his son/protege, get straight to work.

Like I said, normally, a mortician's job is detached from the story of the crime. They do not have deduce anything. They just report on the science so others can come up to their own conclusions.

But here, bizarre and menacing signs start to manifest themselves. They are not explainable in Tommy and Austin's small, scientific world they spend their lives, in the basement of a funeral home.

But this time, if for no other reason but for survival, they have no choice but to play the role of detective.

This poor woman has suffered, that is clear. There are marks of torture everywhere on her body, on the inside. Burns, cuts and tattoos are all over her body, but there is not a single exterior wound.

Austin realizes something supernatural is happening, even though his scientifically grounded father refuses to look any further than their physical findings.

It is not long before we realize we are watching a possession picture, a widely appreciated sub-genre. "Jane Doe" poses the question: can a spirit possess a corpse?

When you read between the lines, this film is a rather poetic deconstruction of misogyny.

This poor woman is literally being used as an object. She represents dehumanization. To them, she is just a bell on a toe.

She was tormented in life and now, humiliated in death.

The only thing this film lacks is the sly humor from Øvredal's last film, "Trollhunter."

The end of "The Autopsy of Jane Doe" is hokey, cheesy and other synonyms for stupid, but that does not matter. That is not the point. What matters is that an innocent and terrified woman has been transformed into a force of nature and a force of vengeance.

That is how the film rides the genre fence. It is both a horror and an art house flick and God, it works. I felt both self-righteous and terrified.

It is coming

When I was thirteen, in the summer of 1987, I got my hands on a copy of Stephen King's "It."

Before then, I truly did not understand how a book could be frightening the way a movie is. You read it as quickly or slowly as you want, so nothing is going to sneak up on you. I assumed that readers, unlike film audiences, have more control over how a book could shake them up.

Simplistic thinking, I guess.

Of course, I was wrong. "It" scared the hell out of me. I related to these characters so much because we were the same age. I started seeing things out of the corners of my eyes. Anyplace, a playground, a field, a group of trees or a street could be hiding the kind of vicious evil that murders children.

It has never left me, even thirty years later.

This book contributed significantly to how I see the world.

I am can only hope that the film will traumatize me all over again.

Prevenge - Alice Lowe (2017)

 When I watched "Prevenge," I expected, based on the trailer, that this was going to be a fun gore-romp.

But the first act was anything but. (Except for one tiny gory murder.) It felt like a drama following the plight of a single working mom. I prepared myself for a big fat dose of dramatic angst. And "Prevenge" delivered just that.

Then I reached the twenty minute point, when "Prevenge" showed its teeth. And sure enough, we keep getting more of that. Oh, murder, murder, damn, bloody murder. It is pretty funny. It puts the "glee" into glee killing.

Before long, we find out the woman's unborn baby is behind these thrill-kill sprees. We start to hear what the child is saying to its mom. The child's inner-dialogue stays with us.

"People think babies are sweet. But I'm bitter."

We don't know what at first, but something must be avenged.

Eventually, we find out the baby is pissed because daddy was killed while rock climbing. She blames the people who were with him at the time. Actually, both mother and child have this kind of frenzied obsession to hunt them down, one by one.

As we keep going, these murders are admittedly getting delightful.

But as bold as she gets, the daughter inside her reminds her that the credit for these wonderful and satisfying killings belongs to her and mommy would not have been inspired if it were not for her.

And to be fair, the baby is more than angry. She's in pain. "A kind person is as rare as a unicorn."


In many ways, "Prevenge" is much like other slasher flicks and, porn, to be honest. The meager story-line is just an excuse to go from murder to murder. The difference is this film has a hook. The killer is a pregnant woman. That has to be somebody's fetish.

I wish I had enjoyed "Prevenge" more than I did, if only because I liked the title. It is entertaining, but not enough to recommend it.

Raw - Julia Ducurnau (2017)

 "'Help me, help me! '"the rabbit said. "'Or the hunter will shoot me dead.'"

Out of all the horror films made in recent memory, Julia Ducurnau's "Raw" is the closest thing we've had to an old-school mind-bang since the late 70's, early 80's.

Its a rare film that's both physiologically disturbing and physically disgusting.

Justine is a naive young woman and strict vegetarian off to school for the first time. Veterinary school to be precise.

Some unconventional hazing starts an alarming series of changes in the veterinarian. And by unconventional, I mean carnivorous. It may just be the worst kind of torture one could come think of for Justine.

And anything forced upon someone has the potential to become habitual.

After being forced to eat raw rabbit kidneys, Justine's body starts to revolt. First, her skin starts to peel off slowly. Think "Cabin Fever" meets Cronenberg.

Then, she develops a lust for meat.

Raw meat. 

And her body starts to turn on her more. Think more Cronenberg. 

As you can imagine, the worse shape Justine is in, the more difficult the film is to watch.

And that's when it starts to get fun.

When the carnivore turns cannibal, there is just a giddy joy rushes through you.

And in that moment, "Raw" doesn't flinch. It does not cut away. We're stuck right there with Justine as she chews and slurps the meat right off the bone.

Now hazing is the least of her worries.

"Raw" is more than a shock movie.

It's no coincidence that this story takes place at a school or that our heroine is demure and virginal when she arrives.

Along with the nasty business with the flesh-eating and what not, we're getting a look inside of Justine's mind as she develops her sexual proclivities.

But the good times can't just go on unchecked. This cannibalism ends up going too far. It's all fun and laughs until someone loses a finger.

Normally, I have a tendency to stay away from films that mix violence and sex together. I love violence and I love sex, but as far from each other as the east is from the west.

But that doesn't apply here. "Raw" isn't just a movie that throws sex and violence together to keep its audience paying attentions. This movie is about sex and violence and how one psychologically interact inside of a developing mind.

Hounds of Love - Ben Young (2017)

Have you ever noticed that fine-art horror movies are much more vicious than what you'll find on the mainstream track?

Filmmaker Ben Young's feature debut, "Hounds of Love" is either a brilliant, terrifying film, clearly influenced by movies like John McNaughton's 1986 masterpiece, "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" or it's a complete, unnecessary mess.

I haven't quite decided yet which it is, but I'm leaning toward the former. 

Like "Henry," "Hounds" can be a very hard film to watch. It's certainly not for the squeamish.

If you're itching for a standard horror or serial killer flick, you'd better as hell look somewhere else because "Hounds" does not fit any kind of mold you're used to.

The story follows John and Evelyn White, a couple who passes their time abducting, torturing and killing teenage girls.

Evie looks like the lovechild of the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid's Tale. That's not really a crucial detail, but I felt the need to point it out, nonetheless. 
Our protagonist is Vicki Maloney, a young lady, pissed off at her mother for not letting her go to a party. Naturally, just like any teenager would, she sneaks out of the house.

As she walks to the party, a car pulls up, offering weed and a ride. Unfortunately, even though the weed seems up to par, the couple in the car are John and Evelyn, the killer duo.

The saga continues over the next few days as John and Evelyn torture, terrorize and sexually assault this poor girl.

I'm not going to tell you whether Vicki lives or dies. I'm just going to say that at first, the ending feels psychologically implausible. 

But Young sells it nevertheless.

In the end, what we're left with an empty pit in our stomach and an uneasy feeling that very much is wrong in the world.