No new Writers Panel episode this week while I’m on the road with The Thrilling Adventure Hour. But as I’ve done the past few Octobers, I’ve been trying to cram as many horror movies into my eyes as possible. Which isn’t that different to the rest of the year, except that in January-September, I throw in some rom coms and action movies.
As usual, my viewing choices are random and chaotic, dictated by how much time I have to watch and my mood in the moment. This year, there is a particular bent toward physical media, as I got a PS5 in January and it plays 4k discs. I’ve become a bit obsessive about growing my collection, and overall the result has been rewarding. This month, I’ve watched the 4k restorations/releases of An American Werewolf in London, Suspiria, Hush, Shaun of the Dead, Beetlejuice, and A Nightmare on Elm Street, and all of them look truly remarkable. For the most part, these are movies I’ve seen dozens of times, but the picture and sound on these discs is showing me aspects I’d never before noticed.
And, while it’s not spooky-themed, I was lucky enough to receive the new Back to the Future 40th anniversary 4k collection from Universal. Obviously, this is a movie I’ve seen 100 times. But good god, this new release is stunning. You’ve never seen Hill Valley like this! More than anything, I’m knocked out by the audio. BTTF2 especially is immersive.
I get nothing from plugging this set, but if you love these movies like I do, I highly recommend you pick it up! Here’s the Amazon link.
I love getting free stuff, of course, and am looking to grow my collection. So, if any of you are in a position to put me on a distribution list for a studio/media distributor, I’d love to be added! Glad to mention/review the discs to my patient and enormous audience here.
Rec Your Head
You’ve got ten days to watch some horror movies. You’ve seen Sinners, Weapons, and 28 Years Later, the biggest of the year, and you’ve probably caught up on the past few years’ stand-outs like The Substance, Abigail, and Heretic. So, let met recommend a few that might have slipped by and are available via streaming.
There is absolutely no reason for Dangerous Animals (2025) to be as good as it is. Like Netflix movies, Shudder originals tend to be hit or miss (okay, a slightly higher hit rate than Netflix). Based on the premise of this movie—“shark-obsessed serial killer captures surfer”—you’d be excused for thinking it’d be a schlocky genre exercise. But Dangerous Animals is directed by Sean Byrne, who made the also-surprisingly-good The Loved Ones. Everyone involved, from the script by Nick Lepard to the overqualified cast that includes Jai Courtney and Hassie Harrison, seems to have received the brief, turning what could be schlock into a cut far above.
I’ve watched a lot of horror movies, and it takes a lot to get my pulse up any more. I genuinely didn’t know where Dangerous Animals would go. I didn’t know the boundaries of the film, and therefore could only expect the worst. I didn’t know if this was a grim-and-bleak type of horror story or something that would let the hero live in the end. It’s a fun, exciting ride. Like any good horror movie, best to go in cold.
Have I recommended One Cut of the Dead (2017) before? Maybe. But this has become an annual watch for me. In part, because the movie is a terrific magic trick of a story. Every time you think you know where it’s going, it takes you somewhere else, somewhere more interesting and, ultimately, inspiring. And it’s that inspiring aspect that is the main reason I keep coming back to the movie. And I have a hunch, if you’re a subscriber to this newsletter, it’ll speak to you too.
Let me say this straightaway: after about a half-hour, you’re going to want to turn it off. You’ll think, I get it. Push past that instinct. Follow the movie where it goes. You’ll be rewarded with something that is more than you expected, more than just a zombie movie. It’s a celebration of the creative process.
Know how at the end of each Writers Panel episode I ask the guest what’s getting them “excited or inspired?” One Cut of the Dead is both. It’ll make you want to tear back into that project that’s taking you forever with renewed vigor. I cannot wait to watch it yet again. It works every time.
I love supernatural Japanese horror. I love that in movies like Ju-On: The Grudge, Pulse, and Dark Water, the horror materializes as something that, without context, could be benign: dripping water, a spiral of hair, red tape on a door. The horror is sold through tone and story.
Noroi: The Curse (2005) features multiple instances of this kind of horror imagery. It’s also the perfect realization of found footage horror, a subgenre that usually holds me at a remove (exceptions include [Rec], Cloverfield, and the exceptional Lake Mungo, which is mind-blowing and highly recommended). It’s so hard to find novel ways to tackle generations-old horror tropes like ghosts, curses, and scary children. But Noroi bundles all of this in a neat package, revealing connections and layers as the story unfolds. I sat riveted throughout.
Turn out the lights, put down your phone, and give yourself over to the movie for two hours. You won’t be sorry.
That’s all for today. I watched some creature features that I want to talk about too, and hopefully I’ll have some time on the road to recommend those too.
Meantime, what scary movies are you watching? Please send recommendations!
I'm sure you've already seen Zach Cregger's WEAPONS, but if you haven't, Warner's 4K release -- which just came out last week -- is a stunner. Beautiful transfer, insidious Atmos mix and while the supplements are modest they still manage to open the film up in interesting, challenging ways.
Currently going through the Criterion 20th anniversary edition of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, which is only a horror movie if you consider the violence as horrific, but every time I watch it I'm struck by how thoroughly it integrates with the rest of Cronenberg's cinema, and what it contributes to his core theme of how our personalities are forever at the mercy of what our bodies want to do ... and how Viggo Mortensen expresses that conflict almost invisibly throughout the picture. But only almost.