In the fourth annual Cinematic Spooktacular, Cecily and A.Ron bring you a light, medium, and big-time spook selection.
This year, they reviewed Jennifer’s Body, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and The Love Witch
Welcome to Cecily and A.Ron’s second annual Cinema Spooktacular! During the month of October, we like to watch scary movies, and then talk about them on a podcast. Perhaps you’d care to join? Stay awhile… stay FOREVER! Muahahahahaha! This year we’re going to do multiple Spooktaculars in a (mostly failed) effort to get these out quicker. On this podcast, we discuss… 00:25:30 – Are We Not Cats?, 00:39:28 – The Endless, 00:53:42 – Mom and Dad, 00:57:54 – Hereditary
Jim and I had high hopes for the Gothic horror film, The Little Stranger, thinking it would be an ultra atmospheric mash up of The Witch with Downton Abbey. Instead, we got a commentary on upper class angst during the 1940’s as their fortunes crumbled alongside their estates masquerading as a dull, drab little ghost story. At no point does the film ever manage to generate anything but mild disquiet and malaise. Which is a shame, because all the pieces were there for genuine horror. An interesting core idea, excellent cast, excellent location, and fantastic atmosphere that were all unfortunately squandered with disinterested filmmaking.
Jim and A.Ron have seen AMC’s The Terror, the epic horror/historical drama set in the mid-nineteenth century that tries to answer the question of what went wrong during the doomed Franklin expedition to the arctic circle. These intrepid men were looking for a path through the sea ice that would open up speedier (and more profitable) trade to the new world and eastern markets, but instead they find themselves trapped in a frozen hell for years. Which will run out first? Their supplies or their sanity? To make the situation worse, they are steadily hunted by an mysterious creature. The show is gorgeous, it’s extremely well acted with Bald Move TV vets such as Jared Harris, Ciarán Hinds, and Tobias Menzies, and features genuine moments of psychological dread and horror. We talk about the show itself, and briefly talk about what the ensuing anthology AMC has recently green-lit might look like.
Today’s commission is courtesy the kind support of Sean Ray, a five time commissioner! He selected It Follows, an extremely clever and inventive horror flick written and directed by David Robert Mitchell. It has big ideas, and while it struggles to live up to them in places, the concept and performance of the plucky cast of likable yet relatively obscure young actors really makes the film shine. It’s fun to watch, it’s fun to think about, and it’s fun to talk about. How would you survive being hunted by “It”? That and a few beers is a topic that can easily kill a whole evening of hanging with your friends.
A.Ron and Cecily begin a tradition of discussing the scary movies they’ve been watching throughout the Halloween season! No spoilers to scare any body off, we just talk about just how and what type of scary they are. This year’s crop of fresh indie horrors is courtesy Kimberly Dadds Buzzfeed article on 31 scary movies to watch during the month of October. The list is below, and I’ve linked to Jim and A.Ron’s in depth review of Pontypool.
A.Ron and Jim saw The Conjuring 2 tonight, and thought it had some solid thrills and chills. We give our overall impressions and review up front, then discuss the many new trailers we saw before the film, before finally getting down and dirty in a no holds barred spoiler section. You’ll have to be a Club Bald Move Member to get that part though, but for everyone else, enjoy the free review and trailer discussion!