Horror Movie, Double Features
Or, I have a new "horror" icon and want to show it off.
Also it helps if you read the title with the same rhythm as "Science Fiction Double Feature" from Rocky Horror Show.
Anyways, as Halloween is right around the corner (I'm going as a Battle Royale student) I thought I'd come up with ideas for movie double feature ideas. Gonna go for particular themes and my reasons.
Zombies
Might as well get the obvious (for me, there is seriously someone from uni who only knows me as "zombie girl") one out of the way first.
I've got to go with Dawn of the Dead (1979) and Shaun of the Dead which has the added bonus of rhyme. My choice is simple, whilst both are genuinely freaky at times and both have an excellent zombie atmosphere they both have an undercurrent of fun which makes them perfect for Halloween. It's more overt in Shaun obviously, but you do have the characters in Dawn running around the mall enjoying themselves and then the zombies getting pies thrown in their faces. I have done a similar double feature before but with Zombieland instead of Shaun.
Found footage
Ah yes, my favourite pet genre. This one is more difficult because there are loads of good combinations. But I think I'm gonna go with Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. The reason of why is a simple one: when I first watched them, both films scared the crap out of me. Blair Witch is also the grandpappy of all the found footage films and I think is still a good film.
Slasher
Not a subgenre I'm a fan of really. There's always something just so nasty about them (strange that, films about someone killing people being nasty) and there never seems to be much point. Stupid people die in horrible ways, one girl survives, the end. So the obvious choice for this is the only old shlasher I can stand, and that's Halloween. To go with it then would be Scream, partially because it borrows from and references Halloween a bit, and the other because of the way it satires slashers and honours them at the same time.
Vampires
I'm gonna go full on 80s with this one. The 80s are pure cheese and the vampire movies from that time are no exception. There are actually two double feature ideas for this one because I can't choose between the two. If you want to go full on cheese then it has to be The Lost Boys and the original Fright Night. Both have teenage boys as would-be vampire slayers and have some good comedy moments. The other double feature is The Lost Boys again and Near Dark because I think the second film is pretty good and both have the whole "guy unwillingly turned into a vampire" thing going for them.
Zombie films where they aren't zombies
Yeah this is a weird one. Basically it's the films that are called zombie films, but what's attacking aren't technically zombies in that they're not walking corpses. So roll on up the infected of 28 Days Later which is possibly my favourite Danny Boyle film, and the virus spanish found footage jumper [REC] SPOILER (highlight): I know it's not a virus, they're possibly posessed, but my point still stands that they're not traditional zombies. Both have great stmosphere and I never get tired of them.
Werewolves
Confession time. I have never seen what is considered to be the quintessential werewolf film An American Werewolf In London. Also I haven't actually watched that many werewolf films, although I do own the old Wolfman film on DVD. So for this theme I will choose Dog Soldiers with its British squaddies under seige in a remote farmhouse and Ginger Snaps with it's teenage goth body horror. Alright, not the best pairing I can make as there isn't much connection beyond being about werewolves, but that should be alright, right? Plus both are again good films.
Haunted House
This one was quite difficult at first, until I moved a certain filmmaker into his own category (see below) Best choice then for real estate that makes you shiver would be from Robert Wise's classic film Tha Haunting and the under-rated The Others. Both put an emphasis on the psychological and The Haunting in particular makes great use of paranoia and tension, and is considered the scariest U/G rated film in history.
Guillermo Del Toro
Yeah, he caused me some confliction with the previous theme. Mainly because of the two films The Devil's Backbone and Del Toro's produced The Orphanage. Both are excellent ghost stories, being both sad and spooky at the same time. The obvious question here is why no Pan's Labyrinth? Well I just think the other two make a double feature. Plus Pan's Labyrinth to me is more of a dark fantasy than an out and out horror.
Classic horror
Gonna end this in the black and white days. Also gonna keep it nice and simple with Frankenstein and Dracula from the Universal horror collection. You can't go wrong with the cinematic outings of two all time horror icons.
So there we have it. Ended up being longer than intended because I kept thinking of new themes.
Hopefully given some good ideas, or at least made you stop and think "wow she really watches too many horror films"
Peace out.
Also it helps if you read the title with the same rhythm as "Science Fiction Double Feature" from Rocky Horror Show.
Anyways, as Halloween is right around the corner (I'm going as a Battle Royale student) I thought I'd come up with ideas for movie double feature ideas. Gonna go for particular themes and my reasons.
Zombies
Might as well get the obvious (for me, there is seriously someone from uni who only knows me as "zombie girl") one out of the way first.
I've got to go with Dawn of the Dead (1979) and Shaun of the Dead which has the added bonus of rhyme. My choice is simple, whilst both are genuinely freaky at times and both have an excellent zombie atmosphere they both have an undercurrent of fun which makes them perfect for Halloween. It's more overt in Shaun obviously, but you do have the characters in Dawn running around the mall enjoying themselves and then the zombies getting pies thrown in their faces. I have done a similar double feature before but with Zombieland instead of Shaun.
Found footage
Ah yes, my favourite pet genre. This one is more difficult because there are loads of good combinations. But I think I'm gonna go with Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. The reason of why is a simple one: when I first watched them, both films scared the crap out of me. Blair Witch is also the grandpappy of all the found footage films and I think is still a good film.
Slasher
Not a subgenre I'm a fan of really. There's always something just so nasty about them (strange that, films about someone killing people being nasty) and there never seems to be much point. Stupid people die in horrible ways, one girl survives, the end. So the obvious choice for this is the only old shlasher I can stand, and that's Halloween. To go with it then would be Scream, partially because it borrows from and references Halloween a bit, and the other because of the way it satires slashers and honours them at the same time.
Vampires
I'm gonna go full on 80s with this one. The 80s are pure cheese and the vampire movies from that time are no exception. There are actually two double feature ideas for this one because I can't choose between the two. If you want to go full on cheese then it has to be The Lost Boys and the original Fright Night. Both have teenage boys as would-be vampire slayers and have some good comedy moments. The other double feature is The Lost Boys again and Near Dark because I think the second film is pretty good and both have the whole "guy unwillingly turned into a vampire" thing going for them.
Zombie films where they aren't zombies
Yeah this is a weird one. Basically it's the films that are called zombie films, but what's attacking aren't technically zombies in that they're not walking corpses. So roll on up the infected of 28 Days Later which is possibly my favourite Danny Boyle film, and the virus spanish found footage jumper [REC] SPOILER (highlight): I know it's not a virus, they're possibly posessed, but my point still stands that they're not traditional zombies. Both have great stmosphere and I never get tired of them.
Werewolves
Confession time. I have never seen what is considered to be the quintessential werewolf film An American Werewolf In London. Also I haven't actually watched that many werewolf films, although I do own the old Wolfman film on DVD. So for this theme I will choose Dog Soldiers with its British squaddies under seige in a remote farmhouse and Ginger Snaps with it's teenage goth body horror. Alright, not the best pairing I can make as there isn't much connection beyond being about werewolves, but that should be alright, right? Plus both are again good films.
Haunted House
This one was quite difficult at first, until I moved a certain filmmaker into his own category (see below) Best choice then for real estate that makes you shiver would be from Robert Wise's classic film Tha Haunting and the under-rated The Others. Both put an emphasis on the psychological and The Haunting in particular makes great use of paranoia and tension, and is considered the scariest U/G rated film in history.
Guillermo Del Toro
Yeah, he caused me some confliction with the previous theme. Mainly because of the two films The Devil's Backbone and Del Toro's produced The Orphanage. Both are excellent ghost stories, being both sad and spooky at the same time. The obvious question here is why no Pan's Labyrinth? Well I just think the other two make a double feature. Plus Pan's Labyrinth to me is more of a dark fantasy than an out and out horror.
Classic horror
Gonna end this in the black and white days. Also gonna keep it nice and simple with Frankenstein and Dracula from the Universal horror collection. You can't go wrong with the cinematic outings of two all time horror icons.
So there we have it. Ended up being longer than intended because I kept thinking of new themes.
Hopefully given some good ideas, or at least made you stop and think "wow she really watches too many horror films"
Peace out.