146 - It's a Horror-ble Genre 👻🤡
Hey there, !
Okay, okay - I don't hate horror, but based on a reader request we're going to share some thoughts. Stranger Things Season 4 has just finished and is very horror-filled so we are vibing this right now :D Spoiler: it was excellent storytelling with really great creepy horror vibes - what a great set up for the finale season!
Fair warning, I've watched very few horror films. I can literally name every horror movie I've watched because I'm not super into the genre.
Here, we do some drive-by reviews (did it give me nightmares? what did I think of it as a movie?):
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The Shining (2/10 nightmare rating, 7/10 movie rating): the first creepy horror film I watched because it was a classic and I'd never watched it before. The atmosphere was scary, the acting was creepy, the setting was classic horror, and the one scene in the bathtub made me jump in fear. Great use of weird sounds and the birth of iconic memes.
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Cabin in the Woods (3/10 nightmare rating, 7.5/10 movie rating): technically, a comedy horror movie, which plays on all the classic horror tropes. The twist is brilliant, but even with that I was pretty goddamn scared. The monsters and the gore were just YEUCK, but I LOVED how they made it work! Extra half point because it didn't take itself seriously (and all the comedic moments made it less scary).
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Silence of the Lambs (10/10 nightmare rating, 8/10 movie rating): again, a classic I thought I definitely needed to watch, and it was BRILLIANT. The acting was so freaking good - I had always heard about Hannibal Lecter but didn't know it had Buffalo Bill in it as well. It's so fascinating to see all these old movies have weird storylines that you hadn't heard of!
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Get Out (3/10 nightmare rating, 7.5/10 movie rating): I didn't want to watch this one because it looked super scary, but because Jordan Peele directed it I was like 'yeah I have to' and to be honest it wasn't TOO horror in the way I dislike horror (gore, violence) - it was more psychological horror, and that was actually really interesting. Throw in some social commentary and baby, you got a stew cookin'.
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IT - Chapter One (12/10 nightmare rating, 7/10 movie rating): I fucking HATE clowns because of this. I mean, I hated them before, but this one made it even worse. The Pennywise dancing scenes HAUNTED me for weeks - the sheer inhumanity of the dance and the crazy movements...EUGH. The scene in the bathroom with all the blood was AGHHHHHH. I still haven't watch Chapter Two yet, but morbid curiosity makes me want to at least watch the ending.
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Us (6/10 nightmare rating, 8/10 movie rating): The unsettling next movie from Peele (I think I preferred it just a little bit over Get Out because it had a slightly more interesting story) - fortunately it kinda shifted to a survival movie halfway through but the first half was some solid tension and horror (when the doppelgangers arrive). As always, fantastic twist.
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Ready or Not (7/10 nightmare rating, 6/10 movie rating): I don't know if this is technically horror, but there was some intense gore and REALLY PAINFUL scenes (stepping on a nail, getting caught in a gate, and being impaled by a stake). One of the most viscerally intense movies I've watched.
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A Quiet Place (0/10 nightmare rating, 9/10 movie rating): Sound design is so important in horror - and with A Quiet Place I appreciated its use SO much more. Like...so much silence, but every noise is so impactful. It was one of my favourite horror movies of this list because it wasn't super horror - it was more a thriller with horror elements imo. Really cool watch!
I haven't watched many of the classics, like Saw , Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project, Scream etc. - when I was younger, I was honestly just scared. Scared of the dark, scared of the weird creatures and shapes and sounds.
I remember watching these movies and feeling frozen in place having to watch the whole movie, but not feeling scared in the moment. I felt my brain rationalising 'oh okay so this twist has happened huh that character is probably not having the best time'. It was only afterwards that my imagination would run wild about the shadows and dark rooms around the house, or as the night crept in outside.
Steph loves to tell the story of me at home, when I go downstairs at night, turning on every light in rooms on the way to what I need to go and do because I'm scared of the dark.
I'm here to tell you that's still 100% true.
Stranger Things 4 was a great reintroduction into the genre. The sound design was on POINT and there were a bunch of really cool homages I think I picked up while watching?:
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The house they go to looks kinda like the one in IT Chapter One - complete with overgrown garden, abandoned rooms etc.
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Silence of the Lambs, when they go to a mental asylum and chat with the high-security prisoner behind bars (though Hannibal Lecter is way more charismatic)
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Something about the dude from Nightmare on Elm Street who can haunt your dreams and worm their way into your psyche through that? I haven't watched it but I know the cultural references!
It was scary, but in a way that didn't leave as many marks (or maybe I've just grown up since!). I've been able to sleep, don't worry :)
Regardless, give me a rom-com any day of the week over a horror movie. Leave me with my wholesome loving vibes :D
Chat soon :)
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✔️Real Life Recommendations
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Kenobi - I just really like Star Wars, and I have done ever since I watched The Phantom Menace when I was young. There's so much cool Star Wars content out there and though I haven't watched any of the animated stuff yet, I'm really loving all the new tv miniseries that are coming out, and this one is no exception. Really cool to see the characters come to life, the psychological weight of guilt, and lightsaber battles are BACK. Extremely fun to watch, even with plot weirdness - but that's okay, it's Star Wars :)
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Roarti Roti - a new place that has opened next to MC on Latrobe St, run by previous MasterChef contestant Jess Liementara. All of the stuff they have is roti-inspired, with a banh mi that has roti as the bread, some amazing crispy pork and lovely sauces to go with it all. Recommended - it's a good feed and reasonably priced...didn't try any of the cocktails but they seemed pretty fun too!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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History of The Morton Salt Girl: Who Is She? (Umbrella And All) - did you know that the phrase 'When it rains, it pours' actually comes from an ad about salt? The more you know.
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Does hot water freeze faster than cold water? - when you think about how we know so much about science and yet we still don't know answers like these, it's just fascinating that there's still so much to learn about the world.
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Learning how to walk through walls - a really fun concept illustrated by a Discworld quote - what are you blind to, because it's just something that you take for granted in the world?:
“Paper,” he said. “Bloody paper. Paper walls.” He poked his head through. There was a shrill whimper. “Oops, sorry, ma’am. Official wall inspection.” He extracted his head, grinning.
“But you can’t go through walls!” said Six Beneficent Winds.
“Why not?”
“They’re—well, they’re the walls. What would happen if everyone walked through walls? What do you think doors are for?”
“I think they’re for other people,” said Cohen. “Which way’s that throne room?”
“Whut?”
“This is lateral thinking,” explained Mr. Saveloy, as they followed him. “Ghenghiz is quite good at a certain kind of lateral thinking.”
“What a lateral?”
“Er. It’s a kind of muscle, I believe.”
“Thinking with your muscles…Yes. I see,” said Six Beneficent Winds.