Halloween Special
Pop Culture Weekly Round-Up 28/10/2022
Hello, everyone! Spooky season is in the air, and since I absolutely LOVE Halloween (it’s my Christmas) I decided to make this week’s newsletter all about scary flicks. Some terrific horror movies were released in 2022 so far, so I picked 5 of my favorites to share with you guys. So yeah, this is not a list of my favorite horror movies of all time. But it has some great scary flicks that came out this year. Anyway, enjoy your Halloween weekend! 🎃👻
Before I go I just wanted to let you all know that I will not be dropping a newsletter next week, November 4. The reason is that I will be working on this tech conference that happens here in Lisbon called Web Summit from 1-4 of November. But I will be back on November 11 with some cool Pop Culture recommendations for you all.
QUICK THOUGHTS
BARBARIAN is one of my favorite movies of the year. Such a refreshing break from the average scary flicks. In my opinion, the reason it outperforms so many of the horror movies from this year is because of how unpredictable it is. I didn't watch any of the trailers or had any idea what it was about. And I think that was the reason I liked it so much. The film employs the surprise component very well and the wild sudden tonal shift midway completely threw me off guard. BARBARIAN is brilliantly performed, written, and directed. And I love how twisted, wacky, hilarious, and unconventional it is. I found it to be remarkable and nearly flawless! Conceptually excellent, and constructed to play with its audience. Definitely a must-see movie for everyone, not just fans of horror fans.
X has the traditional slasher flick set up; A group of teenage filmmakers set out to shoot an adult movie in a remote part of Texas in 1979. But when the group’s old and reclusive hosts caught them in the act, the cast is forced to flee for their life. X is a movie that is both hilarious and extremely messed up. Expect Lots of sex, drugs, and violence. There are definitely traces of the traditional slasher films' influence here, but never once did it feel like a cheap imitation. Also, I can't express enough how pleased I was to watch a film without CGI that looks like a video game cut scene. X is impressive and it feels and looks like the 1970s. Seeing a scary film with only physical effects was very cool. Mia Goth is a horror queen and Jenna Ortega is without a doubt a start. And if at the end of the movie you feel like you want to see the origin story of the horny granny, don’t you worry. A24 and Ti West got you covered with the X prequel PEARL.
PEARL is the second installment of the trilogy that started with X. The film is set in 1918 and is also directed by Ti West. It has stunning multicolored, old Hollywood-style cinematography by Eliot Rockett and Mia Goth, who played Maxine in X, comes back as the main character. PEARL completely differs from the classic horror dread of X. It fully rejects the slasher sub-genre, replacing the perversion, carnage, and sex of the previous flick with a full-fledged character examination and a more psychological focus. Despite having little in common with its predecessor, the movie somehow still manages to be interesting and engaging. PEARL not only doesn't devalue X but enhances it at each point and elevates the role of Pearl to legendary levels. Mia Goth practically carries the movie on her back. She gives a great characterization of someone who was never allowed to live out their dreams and not just some psychopath who woke up one day and decided to become a murderer. Also, West is undoubtedly one of the more distinctive modern horror filmmakers and I love how A24 rarely disappoints me.
THE BLACK PHONE is based on the short story of the same name written by Joe Hill who is Stephen King’s son. Scott Derrickson directed and co-wrote the film. THE BLACK PHONE tells the story of Finney Shaw, a quiet but intelligent 13-year-old boy. He is kidnapped by a vicious killer and imprisoned in a soundproof basement. But when a disconnected phone on the wall starts to ring, Finney learns that he can hear the voices of the killer's prior victims. I had my doubts coming into this flick since I thought the kidnapping of children by a creepy in a cool mask premise had been done to death. However, this is actually a solid scary movie. I felt really anxious at times and the phone thing was an interesting idea. Most importantly, the movie doesn't drag on for too long. Also, both the kid actors and Ethan Hawke had excellent performances. My only complaints about the film were that it lagged a bit in the middle and that I thought Hawkes' character could have been more fleshed out and given more screen time. Otherwise very interesting flick.
DEADSTREAM is a low-budget flick that follows a disgraced online personality named Shawn Ruddy (Joseph Winter) who in an attempt to regain the trust of his audience does one night alone in a haunted house Livestreaming. But when he unintentionally angers a vengeful ghost, his big comeback performance turns into a life-or-death struggle. Found footage movies can get boring and ridiculed for being unoriginal. But DEADSTRAM manages to bring the wacky gore and spooks we love to see in horror movies. I liked how it has the ideal balance of horror, humor, and found-footage components. The use of the cameras is mainly consistent with logic up until the very end, demonstrating how carefully every detail was considered to prevent any logical gaps in the movie. But just so you know, the streamer is super obnoxious and that may determine whether you like or dislike the movie.
TOP 5 SONGS
These were the 5 songs on heavy rotation in my house last week. You can listen to them on Spotify and YouTube.
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Love horror movies and will always maintain John Carpenter's 'Halloween' is the high benchmark, but I'm afraid the rampant recent commercialisation of the Halloween festival just leaves me cold (and annoyed more than spooked!) Does that just make me a party pooper?