31 Days of Horror Redux: Wrapping up

I did not complete my goal of writing about 31 horror movies in 31 days this October. These things happen, and I won’t beat myself up about it. But, I did promise the 31 Days of Horror Redux, and for failing to deliver, I at least owe an explanation. 

For 16 years, I have kept this site up as a hobby, occasionally with more investment and occasionally with less, depending on how my life is shaking out at any given time. Last Cinema Standing is one of the joys of my life, a feeling I hope is conveyed in my writing and particularly around my year-in-review columns, when I take the opportunity to reflect. But, at the end of the day, it is a hobby, and thus, it sometimes falls down the priority list.

A little insight into my life recently: I am currently in the midst of some personal issues revolving around the end of my marriage. All is well, and all parties will be better off and happier once we get through the darkness of this tunnel. Of course, the only way through it is through it. Unrelated to that, I have picked up some additional work in the sports world on nights and weekends for a daily New York newspaper. 

You may have heard that the local New York baseball teams made quite the run to the World Series this year. As a result, I worked every single day of October with no days off and occasional doubles. I am in no way asking for sympathy and recognize that plenty of people out there balance as much or more simply to be able to survive. I am privileged that I can work both jobs from the comfort of my living room and have the flexibility and time to manage them.

However, with the above mentioned in mind, it was perhaps not the wisest decision to add an additional 20,000-30,000 words of horror writing to my plate, on top of the time it would take to watch the films before writing about them. I should also note I take a fiction writing class once per week, so even when I am not writing here, rest assured I am writing.

I am pleased with the pieces I was able to produce in October and had a tremendous amount of fun. I love horror, and I love sharing thoughts about it with others. It is truly one of the great pleasures of my life, but as we all know, life for most is too rarely about pleasure. Ultimately, I wrote about 15 movies over the course of the first 14 days of the month, then had to tap out. 

Over the final 17 days of the month, I watched an additional 10 horror films that were new to me, as well as some personal favorites just for the fun of it. So, to wrap up the 31 Days of Horror Redux, I wanted to share some brief thoughts on the films I didn’t have a chance to write about in full:

Black Friday, directed by Casey Tebo: An alien-invasion horror comedy set on the other scariest day of the year – the shopping holiday known as Black Friday. It’s a good time, and I’m always happy to see Bruce Campbell in anything. Like a feature-length version of the opening scene of Michael Dougherty’s Krampus with aliens thrown in. This 2021 film also got to Black Friday horror two years before Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving tackled similar territory.

Halloween Kills, directed by David Gordon Green: This won’t be the last movie in the Halloween franchise I discuss here. This is the second film in the most recent trilogy, intended as a sequel trilogy to the original film, making this the third film in a tetralogy, if you prefer. If that all sounds like gibberish, well, it is. I had intended to pair this with Halloween Ends to complete the series. However, Ends was not as readily available, and I found this installment uninspired and disappointing, so I was not inclined to go seeking.

Villains, directed by Robert Olsen and Dan Berk: A fun little thriller that proves Bill Skarsgård was destined for horror royalty even before It and Barbarian. His co-star, Maika Monroe, had already done It Follows by this point, but along with this year’s Longlegs, she is clearly on a path to being one of our great horror performers. Lots of fun twists and turns, and though none of the characters acts like a real person might in these situations, the actors (including Kyra Sedgwick and Jeffrey Donovan) give it their all.

King on Screen, directed by Daphné Baiwir: A documentary about the history of Stephen King film adaptations, this is strictly for King heads only. Baiwir largely spends the right amount of time on the correct selection of films (a lot of Misery and Green Mile, not a whole of In the Tall Grass, for instance). There’s a baffling bookend sequence to this film that does nothing for it, and it’s uncomfortable to watch the almost exclusively white, male filmmakers interviewed praise King for his writing of women and people of color.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man, directed by Shinya Tsukamoto: I have to be honest – I could not make heads or tails of the plot of this. In writing this short paragraph, I read the plot description and couldn’t tell you if that actually describes the movie I watched, at least from a story perspective. On the other hand, as an experience, this is a hell of a time. The imagery is a nightmare pulled straight from David Lynch, and the story of a man cursed to turn to metal feels like an astute commentary on the machinery of capitalism. Excited to share and rewatch this one.

Smile 2, directed by Parker Finn: I saw this in theaters after having seen the first film in theaters and enjoying it. This franchise takes the modern trend of “Trauma Horror” to its logical conclusion, featuring a demon that literally feeds on your trauma. Choosing a Sabrina Carpenter-esque pop star as the vessel for the curse is a fun gambit that opens up the world of the story. In service of maximizing its potential for twists and shocks, the movie doesn’t always play fair with its rules, but that’s not the worst thing. The final sequence is the only way this movie could have ended, and while perhaps predictable, it still works.

Rumours, directed by Guy Maddin: Spoilers, but I will almost certainly be writing more about this film when we get to the year in review, so I’ll have deeper thoughts for you then. For now, suffice it to say that Maddin and co-directors Evan and Galen Johnson have crafted a darkly brilliant satire of the way our world works. They also stuff more mood and atmosphere into every frame of this film than most filmmakers will ever find in their whole careers. A masterwork from one of our movie masters.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, directed by Ariane Louis-Seize: Louis-Seize is not messing around here. The title is exactly what this movie is about, but the way it is about it is so fresh and fun and interesting. Like a gender-flipped Twilight for moody Canadians, this film takes its horror seriously and cranks up the teenage(-ish; the vampire is in her 90s) angst to a level that feels honest while still self-reflexively humorous. A neat little gem.

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, directed by Dwight H. Little: I was a Freddy Krueger kid, which you know if you’ve followed the site over the years. I appreciate the original John Carpenter Halloween, but Michael Myers never really did it for me. Freddy is just more fun. So, I mostly skipped all the Halloween sequels, though I did see the Rob Zombie and aforementioned Gordon Green remakes in theaters. This isn’t great. I might have liked it more if I had seen it when I was younger. It is cool to see the birth of Danielle Harris as one of our great horror performers. That said, it’s better than …

Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, directed by Steve Miner: I get what happened here. By 1998, teen slashers were all the way back in the wake of Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc., so why not bring back the original? Well, this movie is 86 minutes of: That’s why. It’s actually shocking how little happens in this movie and how wasted all of Jamie Lee Curtis, Josh Hartnett, and Michelle Williams are. We don’t ask for a lot from a Halloween movie, but this movie truly gives you the least amount it thinks it can get away with. Reader, it does not get away with it.

Those were all the new horror watches I got through in October. As a treat, I also rewatched two of my favorite films of all time: David Cronenberg’s The Fly and Rusty Cundieff’s Tales from the Hood. They’re both still great. I also watched my favorite of the Leprechaun franchise: Leprechaun 3. That one is set in Las Vegas. It’s exactly as much kitschy fun as that sounds and features most of my favorite kills in the series. Finally, I headed over to the Hollywood Forever Cemetery for an outdoor screening of Trick ‘r Treat, which was a delight, though I do recommend bringing your own snacks ($15 for a cupcake!).

So, that wraps up the 31 Days of Horror Redux. Thanks for bearing with me, and I promise this won’t be the last time I go way too deep on horror movies. Until next time, happy haunting.

31 Days of Horror: Trick ’r Treat

Happy Halloween. Sam is here to make sure you are in the spirit. Trick 'r Treat.

In addition to our regular programming, every day this month, Last Cinema Standing has brought readers recommendations from the best of the horror genre as we made our way to Halloween. Well, today is the day. Happy Halloween, all. This should not be treated as a “best of” list but more as a primer. You can read the full introduction to Last Cinema Standing’s 31 Days of Horror here, and if you have made it this far, thanks for checking out the site.

Day 31: Trick ’r Treat (2007)

Halloween is probably the easiest day of the year to separate your neighborhood into two groups: the good-natured folks and the grumps. I would put it ahead of even Christmas in this category because people have myriad reasons for not enjoying Christmas beyond general grouchiness. On the other hand, even for those not so inclined to the festivities, Halloween requires minimal effort. How hard is it to buy some candy and turn on the porch light?

The best part of Michael Dougherty’s Trick ‘r Treat is its commitment to the holiday spirit. The film is even based on a short animation by Dougherty called Seasons Greetings. The movie’s would-be mascot, Sam, is the spirit of Halloween incarnate, named after the Celtic festival of the dead, Samhain, which is from where many of our modern traditions around the holiday are derived.

Set over the course of one Halloween night, the film tells the interlocking stories of five very different groups of people with, shall we say, differing opinions on the spirit of the holiday. Some of the stories cross over into others, and some just occur simultaneously in the background, but lurking throughout them all is Sam. We will learn more about Sam as the night goes on, but his presence permeates every second of the film, creating a lingering sense of doubt, dread, and fear for whatever may be around the next corner.

The night begins at the end for one couple returning home from a party. The husband is a Halloween fanatic. The wife, not so much, and she wants to begin taking down the decorations before the clock has even struck midnight. This will prove to be a big no-no on Sam’s watch.

Down the street, Dylan Baker plays a neighborhood teacher who has a couple secrets to hide and one major problem to handle. Next door to him is an old curmudgeon played by Brian Cox. Of all the characters, Cox’s Mr. Kreeg is the one least in the spirit of the evening, but he may have to find it, whether he likes it or not.

In town for the festivities is a group of 20-something girls trying to help their virginal friend, played by Anna Paquin, let loose. Then, in the movie’s least-connected vignette, several teenagers decide to play a prank on the nerdy girl in their class, and things do not go as planned.

It would be hard to nail down any one of these vignettes as the best. Mr. Kreeg’s story is definitely the scariest of the bunch, while Baker is an absolute riot in all of his scenes. I am partial to the tale of the teenagers and its ultimate anti-bullying message, though Paquin is a ton of fun over the course of her character arch, and the husband-and-wife story that opens the proceedings sets the perfect tone for the events that follow.

This is Dougherty’s only feature film, though he reportedly has two projects in development, including a sequel to this movie. Despite the writer-director’s inexperience, there is an easy artfulness to the way Dougherty’s camera moves across the town, finding little details and building a world out of the specificity of his creation. In the same way, Robert Ivison bounces around among the five stories with grace and precision, and while the film is comprised of several smaller components, the whole thing feels of a piece.

There is humor, horror, and real pathos in the stories of all these characters, and taken all together, the film is a loving and razor-sharp tribute to Halloween and a knowing recreation of what it is like to spend the holiday just kicking around town with your friends. So if you find your spirit waning and your energy running low, pop this in the DVD player and try to find the joy in the season. If you cannot, do not be surprised if you get a visit from old Sam. That ought to do the trick. Happy Halloween.

Tomorrow is the first day of November. Take a break from the television and go outside to watch the leaves change if you are lucky enough to live somewhere with real fall weather. Thanks again for joining me for Last Cinema Standing’s 31 Days of Horror.

31 Days of Horror: A Nightmare on Elm Street

Freddy's coming for you in A Nightmare on Elm Street.

In addition to our regular programming, every day this month, Last Cinema Standing will be bringing readers recommendations from the best of the horror genre as we make our way to Halloween. This should not be treated as a “best of” list but more as a primer. You can read the full introduction to Last Cinema Standing’s 31 Days of Horror here, and be sure to check back each day for a new suggestion.

Day 15: A Nightmare on Elm Street

One, two, Freddy’s coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, better stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again.

You will have to take my word for this, but I can still recite that poem from memory. I probably will be able to do that for the rest of my life. Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street was formative for me. I was interested in horror and the macabre from a young age, but the Nightmare movies and Freddy Krueger blew the door wide open. This was my introduction to real horror, and for that reason, it will always have a special place in my heart.

A lot of horror filmmakers rightly believe the scariest villains are the faceless ciphers who lack even basic tenets of humanity, à la Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers from the previously discussed Friday the 13th and Halloween films, respectively. In many instances, they are right. But I will say that in childhood, I had nightmares about just three characters: the Cryptkeeper from Tales from the Crypt, embarrassingly the Chuckie doll from Child’s Play, and Freddy Krueger.

What the three villains who haunted my dreams have in common is personality, and for personality, Robert Englund’s performance as Freddy Krueger has no equals. Englund plays Freddy Krueger with the kind of smirking insolence usually reserved for the hero of the story, and for a lot of fans, he is the hero of the Nightmare on Elm Street series. In film after film, people tune in to see the villain chew the scenery, kill teenagers in inventive ways, and finally let his hubris get to him so he can be killed, only to be brought back to life in the next sequel.

We can be honest here. Most of the sequels leave something to be desired, and the overall mythology behind Freddy Krueger gets pretty muddled, but there is always Englund, and there is always Craven’s first film – the director having had nothing to do with the sequels until the masterful Wes Craven’s New Nightmare.

The genius of a stalker who kills people in their dreams cannot be overstated. If we look at real-world solutions to horror-movie problems, they have some basis in logic. If you are haunted, you can move; if you are hunted by a giant shark, stay out of the water; and so on. But despite the poem, never sleeping again is not a viable option. Coffee, pills, noise, light, whatever usually keeps you awake will only work for so long. At some point, your eyes will close, and you will be forced to confront the demon in your dreams.

Freddy Krueger is that demon, and the delight he takes in confronting his victims may be the scariest aspect of his reign of terror. He has grudge against the parents of Elm Street. Their vigilante justice took his life but gave him the power to live forever in the dreams of their children. He promised the town it would never be safe, and try as it might, it seems it never will be.

Tomorrow, we let Wes Craven take us into the modern age of self-referential meta-horror.