At the late-night, double feature, picture show
In exchange for missing my days this week, you get a short story, “Devil Dust”, which will be appearing in an anthology sometime next (?) year. I can’t announce the particulars yet, but I’m very happy with the short, and it’s something new for me-contemporary southern noir, with a zombie twist.
Continuing in that vein, and in honor of Halloween, have a sampling of my favorite scary movies to tide you over. I’m going to eschew my usual selections (The Exorcist, The Thing, etc) and focus on the more obscure, slightly less flashy but still terrifying offerings that are inhabiting my shelf:
The Changeling
George C. Scott is at his best (yes, better than Patton) as a depressed composer who’s wife and child were killed in a freeway accident. He moves into a haunted mansion, and quickly realizes he’s not the only inhabitant, and that murder, conspiracy and ghosts are as ingrained in the house as the wood, plaster and creepy steam pipes. The scene of the medium intoning “Are you the child who was killed by the coal cart?” is one of the creepiest seances ever put on film.
Session 9
Shot at the now-demolished Danvers State Mental Hospital (a place that figured large in my childhood, as we lived only a short drive down the highway), Session 9 is at least three movies wrapped inside each other, all of which have horrifying endings that stack thicker than the asbestos dust the characters move into the hospital to remove. It’s claustrophobic and awful and sticks in your mind, and it’s one of my favorite haunted-house stories.
The Stepfather
No, not the remake with Dylan Walsh, which is toothless slasher crap, but the original scenery-gnawing 80s campfest. Yes, it’s a terrible film. Gloriously terrible. And even though it’s bad filmmaking, it’ll resonate with anyone who’s ever hated their step-parent enough to imagine they might actually be a obsessive-compulsive serial killer.
Midnight Meat Train
What more do you want? It’s a film starring Vinnie Jones and an as-yet-un-famous Bradley Cooper, about a serial killer who prowls the subways for, well, meat. Of the human, subway-going variety. The ending falls apart, but the production values and atmospheric tracking shots make it worth the viewing. Also, it’s called Midnight Meat Train. How can you pass that up?
Let the Right One In (Sweden)
Ignore the American remake and it’s bizarrely religious overtones. This is the sweet story of a boy and his vampire. Yanno, until she (he? We’re never sure) starts killing his neighbors and grooming the kid himself to be her new Renfield. Nothing is creepier than little kid monsters. Nothing.
The Orphanage and The Devil’s Backbone
Guillermo del Toro has made other Spanish-language films besides Pan’s Labyrinth, although they’re equally depressing, creepy, atmospheric and soul-crushing. Watch these, and then go look at videos of kittens playing or something until you no longer despair of humanity.
Suspiria
Dario Argento’s lighthearted narrative of ballet school, witchcraft, ritual sacrifice and black magic. You know, without the lightheartedness, and adding in creeping sexual paranoia, claustraphobic sets and an over-saturated color palette horror directors still try and mimic today.
Tale of Two Sisters
Another step-parent from hell story. (Gee, do you think I identify with these or something?) This time it’s a Korean film, and the parent in question is a psychotic, obsessive step-mother who manages to make the chick from Single White Female look like a great roommate. The mansion the family lives in is gorgeous and a star in its own right-I was entirely disappointed when I found out it was all fake.
Sometimes They Come Back
Another solidly B-movie offering, based on a Stephen King novella, but as far as ghost stories go, I love this. The story never pretends to be anything other than pulp, the acting is solid and the scenes in the haunted train tunnel are properly tense and terrifying. It’s as much about the inevitability of aging and being haunted by guilt rather than ghosts as it is about murderous undead greasers, but you don’t have to delve any deeper than MURDEROUS UNDEAD GREASERS to enjoy it.
What are your favorite obscure or not so obscure scary movies? There’s more room on my shelf!