Tag: horror

Shark Week: Jaws 2

What’s amazing is how everyone seems to have forgotten about the time a 25-foot shark killed like five people and ate a few boats off their sunny little resort town’s coast.

October is Horror Movie month, where we let down our hair and celebrate all things macabre and scary! Not that we don’t during the rest of the year, but still… HORROR MOVIES! People who don’t like horror are encouraged to check back November 1st for less bloody and/or disturbing films. For everyone else, let’s put on our galoshes and WADE INTO THE MIRE!

Hello and welcome to Shark Week here at Late to the Theater! This week’s selections are inspired by a dear friend who used to refer to her special lady time as ‘Shark Week.’ We shared many a laugh over that clever nomenclature over the last year or so. Three weeks ago she underwent a hysterectomy and will never again experience a Shark Week, so this week’s entries are dedicated to her! Let’s put on our floaties, paddle out just a little too far, make a ruckus in the water and see what turns up!

The Jaws movies hold a special place in my heart for many reasons, but most of all because they are why I am so goddamned terrified of the ocean. When you’re 5 and wandering through the living room during your parents’ movie night, and you catch a glimpse of a man struggling in the surf with a piece of wood that turns out to have a DEAD BODY attached to it, it leaves an impression.

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And every single time I went waterskiing, this is all I could think about. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

 

So let’s dive in! There will be spoilers, but let’s face it, it’s not like you don’t know what happens in those movies anyway. Big shark, people eaten, shark dies, roll credits. Continue reading “Shark Week: Jaws 2”

Werebeasts Week: Cat People (1942)

It turns out Irina has a secret… If the movie title hasn’t already tipped you, she’s a cat person!

October is Horror Movie month, where we let down our hair and celebrate all things macabre and scary! Not that we don’t during the rest of the year, but still… HORROR MOVIES! People who don’t like horror are encouraged to check back November 1st for less bloody and/or disturbing films. For everyone else, let’s put on our galoshes and WADE INTO THE MIRE!

Hello and welcome to Werebeasts Week here at Late to the Theater! This week’s selections are hairy, scary, and usually unfairly judged – They just want to be understood! Or fed! Either way, we’re looking at people who sprout fur, fangs, and bad attitudes this week, so make sure your shots are up to date and you’ve packed a doggie bag. Let’s get going!

Today I’ve got a real treat for y’all: 1942’s inspired and yet totally banana-balls Cat People. It’s a delightfully weird little film that bears only a passing resemblance to the 1982 remake that starred Natassja Kinski and Malcolm McDowell and is totally ripe for the MST3K treatment, if it hasn’t already happened. Because it’s just so gosh darn fun and I need to discuss it, there will be spoilers. 

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Let’s jump in, shall we?

Continue reading “Werebeasts Week: Cat People (1942)”

Werebeasts Week: Dog Soldiers (2002)

The SAS squad send up a distress flare. Investigation reveals an absolute mess at the SAS campsite: blood everywhere, but no bodies, trank darts, some heavy duty hunting equipment. … And one survivor

October is Horror Movie month, where we let down our hair and celebrate all things macabre and scary! Not that we don’t during the rest of the year, but still… HORROR MOVIES! People who don’t like horror are encouraged to check back November 1st for less bloody and/or disturbing films. For everyone else, let’s put on our galoshes and WADE INTO THE MIRE!

Hello and welcome to Werebeasts Week here at Late to the Theater! This week’s selections are hairy, scary, and usually unfairly judged – They just want to be understood! Or fed! Either way, we’re looking at people who sprout fur, fangs, and bad attitudes this week, so make sure your shots are up to date and you’ve packed a doggie bag*. Let’s get going!

Today’s entry is Dog Soldiers, in which a group of British Army soldiers/football hooligans encounter werewolves while on an exercise in a remote part of Scotland. It will contain spoilers! 

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AKA: The Shittiest Dog Park Visit, Ever

So let’s get going!

Continue reading “Werebeasts Week: Dog Soldiers (2002)”

Hell Is Other People Week: Hush (2016)

I would definitely recommend Hush if you’re looking for an intelligent (despite the few plot holes) thriller with some strong, likeable characters and performances.

October is Horror Movie month, where we let down our hair and celebrate all things macabre and scary! Not that we don’t during the rest of the year, but still… HORROR MOVIES! People who don’t like horror are encouraged to check back November 1st for less bloody and/or disturbing films. For everyone else, let’s put on our galoshes and WADE INTO THE MIRE!

Note: Due to exhaustion on the author’s part, today’s entry, which was actually supposed to be published last Friday, will be shorter than usual. Rather than wait and agonize over an ever-growing backlog, I’m finishing this entry and publishing it Monday. But don’t worry – I’ll be writing plenty of posts for Werebeast Week! 

Hello and welcome to Hell Is Other People* week here at Late to the Theater! This week’s selections are all about the biggest threat facing modern mankind –other people. All this week’s selections take place in Suburbia, and while they might feature supernatural flourishes, people tend to be the at the root of the problem. So throw some plastic flamingos on your lawn and turn up the music; we’re going to get a visit from the concerned people at our HOA**!

Today’s entry is 2016’s Hush, a horror thriller by the husband and wife team of Mike Flanagan and Katie Siegel. In the interest of discussion, it will contain spoilers! 

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Ooo, creepy dollface mask! 

The premise of Hush is simple: a woman has to survive a siege on her house from a sadistic killer. Maddie Young is a writer who’s moved to an isolated house in the woods to work on her second novel. She’s plugging right along when a crossbow-wielding lunatic shows up and traps her inside. It sounds formulaic and like nothing you haven’t already seen if you’ve been watching horror movies for the last twenty years, but there’s a fascinating twist, one that keeps the movie interesting despite the flimsy plot:

Continue reading “Hell Is Other People Week: Hush (2016)”

Hell Is Other People – The Amityville Horror (2005)

Anyway, I can’t help but writhe in frustration at the squandered opportunity here. I can’t help it! There was a fascinating movie in there someplace, and it got caught between the wheels of marketable, facile horror movie and slavish recreation of original.

October is Horror Movie month, where we let down our hair and celebrate all things macabre and scary! Not that we don’t during the rest of the year, but still… HORROR MOVIES! People who don’t like horror are encouraged to check back November 1st for less bloody and/or disturbing films. For everyone else, let’s put on our galoshes and WADE INTO THE MIRE!

Hello and welcome to Hell Is Other People* week here at Late to the Theater!This week’s selections are all about the biggest threat facing modern mankind –other people. All this week’s selections take place in Suburbia, and while they might feature supernatural flourishes, people tend to be the at the root of the problem. So throw some plastic flamingos on your lawn and turn up the music; we’re going to get a visit from the concerned people at our HOA**!

Note: Due to lack of planning on the author’s part, the role of Poltergeist will be played by the 2005 version of The Amityville Horror, for the following reasons:

  • Poltergeist isn’t on Netflix and I can’t afford to buy it/am too afraid to illegally download it
  • I watched TAH the other day and had Opinions
  • It fits into this week’s theme of Hell Is Other People

So here we go!

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Continue reading “Hell Is Other People – The Amityville Horror (2005)”