Horror Movie Talk

We watched the original Friday the 13th on Shudder, and while it definitely represents the film version of pulp, it’s the original upon which so many slashers have been based. It delivers in a charming way and the twist is still impressive after all these years. It’s 40th birthday will be this Saturday, May 9th, 2020. 

Synopsis

Friday the 13th is the story of a group of teen counselors who are setting up a summer camp at Camp Crystal Lake.

It details the short story of the final days of these teen counselors. We also get a glimpse into small town americana, which is unbearably quaint. There isn’t a lot of story to this one, and that’s the point.

Watch Friday the 13th

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Review

Friday the 13th was the first independent film of it’s time to secure distribution in the U.S. by a major studio (Paramount).

Directed by Sean S. Cunningham (who went on to write and produce many sequels) and written by Victor Miller, Friday the 13th was the second of the big franchise slashers to hit the scene, following the success of 1978’s Halloween.

This movie birthed so many tropes and trends that it’s almost comical. It is also a great place to see Kevin Bacon in one of his earliest and sexiest roles. 

While it’s no crowning achievement in filmmaking, Friday the 13th does set the stage for 80’s horror very nicely with a parade of sexy but disposable characters, great practical effects by Tom Savini, and tense music by Harry Manfredini. 

Friday the 13th is a classic that is only dwarfed, in my opinion, by the sequel, Friday the 13th Part 2. If you haven’t seen this movie, don’t expect to be blown away, instead expect to gain a better understanding of the foundation of the slasher genre.

Score

7/10

Friday the 13th Spoilers

I’m going to level with you, even though there is a hefty twist at the end of this movie that is made better with time, you’ve had 40 years. Get with it.

First-person killing

A huge portion of Friday the 13th is spent stalking the campers with the camera in first-person perspective. This places the audience square in the feet of the killer and while that’s not a big deal today, it was in 1980. Sure, Halloween and Black Christmas had done this to a small extent, but it’s like the calling card of this whole movie.

To make the first-person perspective even more important, we are given clues throughout the film. We get to see the big work boots worn by the killer, and the rough leather gloves they are using.

We automatically assume that these manly accouterments lead to a big burly man – you know, the myth of Jason! But that just makes you a big sexist pig!

Who is the killer?

The one who is stalking around the camp and killing young lovers and camp counselors is none other than – Mrs. Voorhees! That’s right, she’s been stalking the camp for the last 20 years, taking revenge on those who she blames for the death of her son, Jason.

Critics were furious at this movie for a variety of reasons, mostly for being a n exploitation film that was sexist and distasteful. Apparently the irony of the killer being a woman was lost on them.

Packaging horror in the neatest of boxes

Friday the 13th accomplished such a beautifully simple packaging of the slasher genre into a neat little package that it’s no wonder why it spawned so many copycats. It was so chalk full of sex, murder, and weird, cautionary morality lessons that it was bound to be duplicated.

It threw caution to the wind and it’s sails caught a big breeze that allowed it to crank out a new sequel every year for most of the 80’s. Think about that. When was the last time you saw something with so much appeal? Harry Potter and Marvel Cinematic Universe come to my mind.

Final Recommendations

This movie is so quaint and tame by today’s standards that I really would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it, so long as they are interested in horror. This is a great entry to bring a new horror head into the genre because it gives the viewer such a strong idea of where all the tropes come from.

Don’t Miss JJ Villard’s Fairy Tales on Adult Swim!

JJ Villard is our guest on this episode and gives us a peak behind the scenes for his new show, JJ Villard’s Fairy Tales. Check out the trailer and the premier on May 10th at midnight on Adult Swim!

The one, the only (well not really), the original! Yes the time has arrived to finally unleash our review of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This episode we recorded over a year ago, back when we were zygotes.

Synopsis

Texas Chainsaw Massacre stars Mike Myers as a San Francisco poet who fears commitment and suspects his girlfriend may have a knack for killing off her significant others. Oh wait, that’s So I Married an Axe Murderer.

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No, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the story of a massacre that happened in Texas that involves a chainsaw. Maybe the intro crawl to the movie explains it best.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre can be found on Shudder right now. Use our promo code to get a free 30 day free trial.

Review of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is obviously regarded as one of the greatest horror movies of all time and has been highly influential in the genre. If I had to describe this movie in one word, it would be “unhinged”. A lot of elements from this film and the low budget could have made this movie a hot mess, but somehow Tobe Hooper pulls off a coherent and terrifying masterpiece. 

Score

10/10

Inspiration for TCM

This movie is one of three horror classics inspired by Ed Gein. The other two being Psycho and Silence of the Lambs (Buffalo Bill).

Ed Gein “only” killed two women, so he’s not technically a serial killer, but he would dig up dead bodys and make stuff from their skin and bones.

Soon after his mother’s death, Gein began to create a “woman suit” so that, as he stated, “…could become his mother—to literally crawl into her skin”. Gein denied having sex with the bodies he exhumed, explaining: “They smelled too bad.” 

Here is some of the items authorities found in his house:

• Whole human bones and fragments
• A wastebasket made of human skin
• Human skin covering several chair seats
• Bowls made from human skulls
• A corset made from a female torso skinned from shoulders to waist
• Leggings made from human leg skin
• Masks made from the skin of female heads
• A heart “in a plastic bag in front of Gein’s potbellied stove”
• Nine vulvae in a shoe box
• A belt made from female human nipples
• A pair of lips on a window shade drawstring
• A lampshade made from the skin of a human face

Final Recommendations

It’s a must see. If you are into horror movies, you just need to see it. It goes down in history with the likes of Halloween and Friday the 13th for supremely influential slashers movies.

We watched Quarantine for free on Crackle and it hasn’t lost it’s luster. This is still a staple of the found footage genre, and one that sticks out in my mind for a number of reasons. On this episode we go over the movie, play a rousing game of Attack of the Rotten Tomatoes, and talk about what happened to us over social media over the last week. We also discuss a bit of what it’s been like in our own quarantine.

Synopsis

Quarantine is a 2008 American recreation of the 2007 Spanish film REC. It’s very similar to REC in just about every way, but because it’s out of Hollywood, it seems to have dwarfed the original, despite not being as effective.

Quarantine follows a reporter, Angela, who is doing a slice of life piece on some local firefighters in LA. As she goes on a routine call with the crew, they end up at a small tenant building that houses a variety of residents.

Watch Quarantine

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It soon becomes apparent that there is some kind of infection going around the building as matronly and old tenants begin to brutally attack those trying to help them. The firefighters, camera crew and the tenants are all locked inside and soon they find themselves with more quarantine than they bargained for!

Quarantine Trailer

Review of Quarantine

Quarantine was directed by John Erick Dowdle who is also known for some staple cult favorites like As Above, So Below and The Poughkeepsie Tapes. 

It stars Jennifer Carpenter who we love when she acts in the horror genre. We just reviewed The Taking of Emily Rose, which also starred her.

I enjoy this movie because it has a great start, middle, and a decent ending, although it’s impossible to beat the ending of REC even though this tries. It has all the elements that make a great found footage movie. 

Watch REC

Stream it or buy it on Amazon

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The story is compelling, the situation is extremely relatable…now, and there is plenty of shaky-cam footage to keep your eyes clawing at the edges of the frame for whatever that thing was that just ran by.

I will say that Jennifer Carpenter’s acting gets in the way of the ending of this movie. She hams it up to such an incredible degree that I couldn’t stop thinking about every middle school girl nervous breakdown I ever witnessed or had myself – and there were more than a few.

Even with the overacting, I think Quarantine stands out as one of the classic found footage examples. If I had to point people to a movie to watch, I would point them at REC before this. You can find REC right now on prime for a few bucks.

Score

7/10

Spoilers for Quarantine

After watching this movie, it’s a lot more simple than it seems as it’s unfolding – not that it seems terribly complicated. It has a learn-as-you-go structure and there is a mystery that slowly unravels: why are we being quarantined and what is this sickness?

It starts with some engaging banter between our reporter and her firefighter subjects. I always enjoy horror movie beginnings that are light and breezy and fun. It’s a refreshing palate cleanser to what is going to become a horrendous scenario.

Queue the horrendous scenario. They get to the apartment building and they meet some creepy old grannies who are obviously afflicted with some malady. Ms. Espinoza, one of the old ladies in question, attacks a firefighter and rips out his jugular.

What is the infection in Quarantine?

The only real spoiler in this movie is what the malady is that affects the tenant building. In the first act we learn about a little girl in the building who has a mild fever. She has a little dog, who is also sick and was taken to the vet yesterday.

Well, this little dog was infected with some sort of super rabies it attacked some other animals in the vet that they took it to, and those animals started showing signs of rabies after only one hour, which is about a month too fast.

The CDC was notified about the dog and they traced it back to this building. Turns out, there are some rats loose in this building that exhibit the signs of rabies.

Good thing too, because while normal rabies is nothing to scoff at, this is sooo much worse!

Rabies public service announcement

To avoid rabies, these are the signs that animals with the disease portray:

• Aggressiveness
• Agitation
• Hallucinations
• Muscle spasms
• Seizures
• Paralysis
• Sensitivity to bright lights, sound, or touch

So, these rabies rats come from the attic, where a tenant who rents it keeps a bunch of experimental rodents and news clippings of his satanic death cult. Turns out, he’s been working on weaponizing the rabies virus, and either he set some rats loose in the building on purpose, or they escaped by accident. I haven’t seen Quarantine 2 but I bet they tell more about the story there.

The End

The end of Quarantine is not nearly as strong as REC even though it tries to accomplish the same thing. The problem is the camera, the monster, and the hyperventilating Jennifer Carpenter. It’s so loud and fast in this movie that when they find the emaciated rabies monster in the attic, there is no dread or tension to go along with it, just a panic attack being had by our reporter friend.

The end of REC, on the other hand, is downright chilling, and remains with me to this day.

Final Recommendations

If you’ve already seen REC or if you can’t stand subtitles, this is a great found footage movie with break-neck pacing and some really intense moments. Otherwise, start with REC then watch this to compare.

Links for this episode:

Kiggins Theater in Vancouver, WA

This week we watched The Wicker Man (1973) which can be found streaming on Netflix, and it lives up to the hype. On this episode, we are joined by Ben Warrington with his recommendations for movies to stream during quarantine, and we also read comments and questions from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Synopsis

The Wicker Man is about a wicker man. No, it’s actually about a scottish constable, Sargeant Neil Howie, played by Edward Woodward who is called to investigate the disappearance of a little girl off of the secretive and secluded Island SummerIsle. The main thing that you need to know about Sargeant Howie is that he is tired of your shit. The main thing you need to know about SummerIsle is that this Island Fucks.

As Sergeant Howie investigates the disappearance of Rowan Morrison, it becomes quickly apparent that the islanders are not to be trusted. They have shifty eyes from the outset, and even worse, they are Pagans! The devout Christian Sergeant Howie is ill equipped to face the strange rituals and attitudes found to be taught and practiced on the island. These blasphemous rituals include singing and dancing around the maypole and … premarital sex!

As the mystery of the missing girl gets unraveled, Howie learns about the agrarian origins of the island and its reliance on the old gods to provide a plentiful harvest. Sometimes the old gods demand sacrifice. Just sayin.

Review

The Wicker Man focuses on the true horror, feeling uncomfortable around weird people.

This movie is a classic for a reason, it is very discombobulating, and you experience the confusion that Sargeant Howie does. Anyone with a conservative christian upbringing might not have as extreme reaction to the Paganism as Howie, but the feeling of discomfort about sex and blasphemy is probably familiar.

The darkness at the root of this island is felt throughout, but isn’t overt. Mostly it’s a feeling of being toyed with and mocked. The island is like a bunch of Mean Girls.

The enduring legacy of the film is it’s conclusion and I don’t want to spoil it for those that haven’t seen it. All I can say is it made me feel lots of emotions, almost like a religious experience

Score

10/10

The Wicker Man (1973)

Add the Blu ray to your collection or stream it right now

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Spoilers

Expand for Spoilers

I pretty much knew the plot of the Wicker Man from the Radiohead music video for Burn The Witch, and also heard that the ending of Midsommar was very similar, but I was genuinely effected by the ending of The Wicker Man.

https://youtu.be/yI2oS2hoL0k

The pacing of the film really lulls you into a false sense of security. You know pretty much from the get go that these islanders are acting suspicious, but the immediate conclusion is that they are covering for someone in the village that commited the murder.

However, as we see the islanders, especially the landlords daughter Willow, continue to fuck with him, it seems like there might be a larger conspiracy. Along the way, there is enough clues revealed, that it feels like the secret is that Rowan is alive and going to be sacrificed.

The conclusion arrives, and it is revealed that Sargent Howie was the target all along. They had specifically researched him and identified him as the ideal sacrifice to the gods for a plentiful harvest. He was:

• An Adult Male
• A Virgin
• He comes with the power of a king in that he is a police officer
• He is a Christian
• He is a fool

When it is revealed that the method of sacrifice is to have Howie burned alive in a wicker man, it is genuinely terrifying. The camera stays with Howie as he sees the fire licking up at him in his final moments. It was deeply affecting.

Final Recommendations

If you want to delve into the classics, I would definitely add this to the list. If you watched Midsommar and want more of that.

Videos Mentioned in This Episode

We watched The
Platform on Netflix with a bunch of HMT fans over the Chrome Netflix Party
extension and boy, I love this movie! While I am certain that lots of purists
will debate whether this is horror or not, I assure you, it’s worth the watch
and will definitely find some way to make your skin crawl. The timing of this
release makes me wonder if Netflix has a bunch of totally apropos titles just
waiting in the wings to be released whenever they are most relevant. 

The Platform Synopsis

The Platform is about a
prison called the pit where there are three kinds of people; the ones above,
the ones below, and the ones who fall. This is a twisted place where every cell
contains two people and is stacked on top of a seemingly endless column of
other cells. 

Every day there is a
massive banquet comprised of everyone in the prison’s favorite dish. This
banquet contains enough calories for everyone in the pit to survive. The catch
is the banquet is placed on a platform that stops at every cell for a short
time, and it starts at the top and works its way down.

Some prisoners are there
by choice, some are there because of a crime, but there seems to be a promise
that is made to all of them upon entry into the pit – if you do your time and
make it out, you will be granted increased social standing. 

Our protagonist is a man
called Goreng (Ivan Massagué), who spends time with several of
the inmates of the pit. As he learns the ropes, he also seems to take issue
with the inherent societal problems that it represents: greed and desperation.

The Platform REVIEW

The Platform is a
Spanish film by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, and it’s one of the most
unique ideas that I’ve seen put to the screen since Cube. 

Watch Cube on Amazon

The spiritual predecessor to The Platform

Click Here to Watch

The minimal but rigid
design of the pit echos in the sci-fi dystopian walls of the film itself.

You know the sick and
twisted world that lay in the basement of Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs? That terrifying
and perverse reality that we like to forget exists in the real world? That
feeling is magnified in The Platform and made the subject of the entire
movie. 

To make it even more
hard-hitting, The Platform is clearly a commentary on humans and society today.
While it’s hard to draw many direct analogies with the real world, the standout
one seems to be human nature and the greed inherent therein.

The Platform is not without hope, but it is chock-full of extreme violence,
imagery, and ideas that make this a real stomach turner.  

This movie stays with
me, and I wouldn’t mind watching it again. It doesn’t hold your hand, and there
is clearly a lot of theorizing that one can do to try and determine the
symbology and lessons within. 

Score for The
Platform

9/10

Spoilers

The Platform does a lot of things right. It maintains
mystery, drama, tension, and is clearly meant to stand for something. Anything
that you might be interested in, this movie probably touches on it. On top of
all of that, it doesn’t hold your hand, leaving you free to interpret it’s
message or take it at face value.

In favor of spoiling the movie point by point, I will
instead share with you a few basic premises of this movie that I find the most
relevant and exciting.

The Rules of The Pit

The prison known as “the pit” is a mostly lawless place with
a few given rules. They are as follows:

• Some prisoners have opted in, others are being
  punished, but upon serving your time in the pit, you will be granted elevated
  social status.
• Everyone is allowed to bring one item with them
  to the pit.
• The platform contains everyone within the prison’s
  favorite meal made to perfect standards.
• The platform arrives on each level containing a live
  person once a day for some short amount of time.
• Each set of prisoners spend one month on the level
  that they are randomly assigned. If you lose your cellmate, you will be given
  another upon placement next month.
• At the end of a month, all prisoners are put to
  sleep by gas and placed, randomly on a new level.
• Anything goes within the pit. There is no law or
  order that can be broken.
• If you try to hold on to food for later, the
  temperature of your cell will be raised or lowered until your death.

The Meaning of The Platform

I really enjoy movies that clearly have a purpose or message,
and that purpose or message is left somewhat obscured. I won’t tell you what it
means because I don’t know for sure. I will tell you what it could mean.

Hell Allegory

There is an obvious allusion to the pit being hell because
there are 333 cells within it, which means there are 666 prisoners. Besides, it’s
just about as hellish as you can imagine, especially on the lower levels, which
seems like a nod to Dante’s Inferno.

At the very least it’s some sort of purgatory, where people
do their time and wait for judgement. At the worst it means torture and death.
Even living can mean hellish conditions like someone keeping you alive to feast
on you gradually to make sure your flesh doesn’t spoil as quickly.

Socio-Economic Allegory

Goreng decides to bring a book with him to the pit, but not
just any book. He brings Don Quixote, a book whose main character is a
proponent of equal rights. This is interesting because everyone’s rights within
the pit are equal, but that doesn’t mean everyone will be happy about it. Equal
rights and equal outcomes are different beasts, and here equal outcomes are not
law.

It’s clear that The Platform is meant to be a
commentary on capitalism. Capitalism is an interesting beast because it allows
you to succeed or fail, but guarantees nothing. Capitalism doesn’t play
favorites, so many end up losing.

Final Recommendation

If you are a fan of psychological horror or Cube, you
will enjoy this movie as long as you have a strong stomach. It’s not gore-porn,
but there are disturbing concepts throughout. I had a blast watching this, and
the dubbing didn’t bother me one bit.

The Bye Bye Man. What can be said about this extremely average film? Maybe you shouldn’t see it or think about it, but in all honesty, if you have some family that likes bad slashers, you should probably see this film on Netflix right now.

The Bye Bye Man is an average slasher that features a bad guy who is an amalgam of The Candyman and Freddy Kruger.

This isn’t one of our normal reviews as Bryce and I have been forced to record two separate podcasts due to the quarantine. Check out Bryce’s episode here.

Score for The Bye Bye Man

5/10

The Bye Bye Man

Add the Blu ray to your collection or stream it right now

Buy/Rent on Amazon

Magnus, one of our longest listeners has consistently asked us to review The Bye Bye Man. So this is his fault.

Because of social distancing measures and out of an abundance of caution, Me and David recorded our thoughts on The Bye Bye Man separately. Stay safe out there.

The Bye Bye Man Synopsis

The Bye Bye Man is about a Bye Bye Man. A reverse three’s company of two guys and a girl move into a house together and one of them discovers a dresser with disturbing scribbling on the inside that repeats the phrase “Don’t think it, don’t say it.” When he rips out the drawer liner, underneath is written the words “The Bye Bye Man”. Turns out he thinks it and says it. WACKY HIJINKS ENSUE.

Bryce’s Review

This movie is bad. We knew it would be bad going in, but ugh, it was rough anyway. The major flaw in this movie is that the writers were so enamoured with the concept of “Don’t think it, Don’t say it” that they forgot to include an actual plot in the movie. The film is actually based on a really badass sounding urban legend. The original story had a much more complex mythology for the Bye Bye Man: He was an albino born in New Orleans in 1912 who ran away as a child and became a derelict who lived in a train yard. After going blind he began murdering people and cutting out their eyes and tongues, which he sewed together and brought to life using voodoo. The resultant creature became the Bye Bye Man’s literal seeing-eye dog, helping him hunt his prey. Several elements from the story- notably the dog and the motif of trains– were retained for the movie, though their purpose is left undefined. So much so, that if you only watch the Bye Bye Man, your only knowledge of him will be that:

1. He exists, and
2. He’s bad.

Bryce’s Score for The Bye Bye Man

2/10

Watch The Bye Bye Man

The Bye Bye Man is streaming on Netflix, but is also available to rent or buy on Amazon.

The Bye Bye Man

Add the Blu ray to your collection or stream it right now

Buy/Rent on Amazon

We watched The Taking of Deborah Logan on Shudder because right now, this virus is threatening all of our old people. I have to say, while my initial first watch impressions of this movie were much better, this is still a solid horror movie about the compelling topic of old people gone crazy.

Help Your Local Theater Through the Shutdown!

Cinema 21 in Portland, OR needs your help. They offer a bevvy of wonderful snacks and beers for you to enjoy while seeing reasonably priced entertainment. In the time of the virus, it’s important that we help our community stay together, so please, consider buying a gift card from Cinema 21 in one of the links below.

• $10 Gift Card
• $25 Gift Card
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• $100 Gift Card

The Taking of Deborah Logan Synopsis

This is a
2014 film by director Adam Robitel who brought us Insidious:
The Last Key and Escape Room.

A film crew shows up to
Deborah Logan’s (Jill Larson) house where she and her daughter, Sarah Logan (Anne Ramsay) still live. The setting is very East Coast
rural, and there is only Harris (Ryan Cutrona), the groundskeeper who hangs around to help
Sarah and Deborah.

Watch The Taking of Deborah Logan

Watch on Amazon

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The film
crew is there to document Deborah’s descent into Alzheimers. The agreement is
that the crew gets to make Deborah the focus of their documentary, and they
will pay handsomely for that privilege. Sarah realizes that they need the money
if Deborah is going to continue living and maintaining this home, but Deborah
is private and would rather the crew not be there.

As the days
progress, disturbing signs of Deborah’s mental health quickly arise and give
way to questions about whether this is the signs of a degenerative aging
disease, or whether it’s something else.

There are
lots of signs of cult activity surrounding Deborah and her life of secrets as
the town’s original telephone switchboard operator, but how much of it is
nonsense, and how much is real.

In the end,
Sarah and the film crew end up with more Deborah than they bargained for.

The Taking of Deborah Logan Review

The Taking
of Deborah Logan is a bit
of an odd duckling on my second viewing. On my first viewing, I was so struck
by the pacing and shocking nature of the visuals that I overlooked some of the
film’s more problematic issues. 

Don’t get
me wrong, this film can almost stand on it’s disturbing scenes and tension
built cleverly around a very real issue that many people have to face. But the
wires begin to show a bit on a second viewing when you aren’t dazzled by the
initial shocks in The Taking of
Deborah Logan.

I feel like
a lot of the camera work for the documentary is extraneous, but not in a good
way. Paranormal Activity 2 is a shining example of extraneous footage that
works to build tension, but Deborah had a hodgepodge of silly angles and shaky
cam footage that didn’t work in favor of the movie.

That said,
I really love this movie! The imagery, the cult aspect, the old person who
can’t be controlled – It’s great. The execution of the whole thing is pretty
darn good too. The pacing is really what makes this movie a must-see because
it’s so fast that there is never a chance to get bored. 

Did I
mention the impressive and shocking imagery?

Score

8/10

Spoilers

This film is about Deborah’s descent into a weird kind of
cult possession. It starts out looking like Deb just has some severe form of Alzheimer’s,
but ends up looking like she is a snake possessed by Desjardin’s ghost. So…
pretty typical.

In seriousness, the real spoilers here are that Deborah was the
town switchboard operator for a long time. This required her to keep a lot of
secrets for a lot of people or risk losing their business.

One of the secrets that she was required to keep was of a
dying man named Henry Desjardins, who, in an effort to gain immortality began sacrificing
virgins on the date of their first menses. Again, pretty typical stuff.

Desjardins got 4 of the 5 virgins he needed to complete his pentagram
shaped ode to the serpent cult before he bit the big one. But it was Deborah
who made sure that Desjardins didn’t accomplish his goal. She stopped him the
only way she knew how; the old fashioned killing him method.

His 4 out of 5 virgins did get him a pretty potent ghost
form that allowed him to possess and severely mess up Deb in her later years.

In the end, Desjardins was driven from Deborah when they
burned his remains, freeing her from his serpent ghost grasp.

The imagery at the end of this movie is some of the best and
most shocking I’ve ever seen. It has stuck with me for years, and I love it for
this.

Final Recommendation

See this film if you enjoy found footage. See The Taking
of Deborah Logan if you enjoy hard horror.

Wrong Turn is a blast from the past, but was it a blast to watch it? Eh. It is what it is. It’s a guilty pleasure horror movie that features psychotic inbred mountain men. If that sounds like your bag, give it a watch. Regardless, listen to our review, because we probably had more fun reviewing it than watching it.

Wrong Turn Synopsis

The synopsis is simple. A group of random people in their early twenties are attacked by inbred homicidal mountain men. Some of them have paint by numbers backstories and archetypes, really their purpose and motivation is to be fodder for a slasher. Everyone that you think will die dies, and everyone that you think will survive survives.

Review

Wrong Turn came out in 2003 and I genuinely forgot how long ago that was. Nokia phones, bare midriffs on women, and pooka shells on men. It was a simpler time. And this is a simple movie to match it. This is a good old fashioned, dumb slasher. The only unique twist on the generic formula is that the antagonists are a family of inbred homicidal hicks. Oh wait, that’s not unique, that’s a rip off of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Whatever, who cares, the people that want to watch slashers just want to see people getting chased and cut up. In that respect, this movie excels, because that’s basically all that happens. People get chased and cut up. Rinse and repeat.

Score for Wrong Turn

5/10

Wrong Turn

Add the Blu ray to your collection or stream it right now

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Spoilers

What next?

If you are in the mood for another slasher, you can’t do better than Sleepaway Camp.

We rented
The Exorcism of Emily Rose on Amazon, and while Bryce couldn’t seem to
stay awake, I was reminded of one of my favorite possession movies ever made.
This was a Patreon pick of the month, and they voted on it, so we reviewed it.

Synopsis of
The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The
Exorcism of Emily Rose is directed by Scott Derrickson (Sinister) and is the
story of a court case where The People are prosecuting Father Moore (Tom Wilkinson) for the negligent homicide of
Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). Good news for Father Moore,
Erin Bruner (Laura Linney) is on the case.

As we are
walked through the trial, we get glimpses into the hellish end of days that
made up Emily’s life. She was a deeply devout catholic girl in a deeply devout
catholic family, and that never seems to be a good combination in possession
movies. 

Watch The Exorcism of Emily Rose

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The
defender of The People is Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott), and he makes the claims that
Emily was epileptic and psychotic, which could have been treated medically. 

Erin has to
come to terms with her own lack of faith to depict this priest in the light of
his intentions and the reality that the possession was real, and the exorcism
was vital to save Emily from the devil.

Review of The
Exorcism of Emily Rose

The
Exorcism of Emily Rose is an interesting and well-executed movie that
really floored me the first time I watched it several years after it’s 2005
release. I’ve seen it a handful of times since then, and it continues to be
compelling to watch.

The visuals
in this movie work best on the first go-around, so it didn’t have the same
disturbing impact on me this time as it did my first viewing.

I
appreciate the new twist on an old classic – being told from the perspective of
the homicide case made it much less of a movie about possession and much more
of a movie about faith and religion. The Defense attorney had her own brushes
with the demonic during her trial, which gave the movie stakes in the present.

This movie
respects the audience and shows a lot of restraint in favor of fewer terrifying
moments. The result is that these very disturbing scenes have a heavier impact.

I’m a
sucker for a well-made possession movie, and this is exactly that.

Score

8/10

Spoilers for The Exorcism of Emily Rose

This starts
with a great ambiance shot of a dreary farm-house in a mist-covered field. A medical
examiner shows up to find Emily deceased, surrounded by her family, and in
horrific condition. He can’t conclusively say that the cause of death is
natural, which makes a great allusion, not only to murder but to the
possibility of satanic possession.

The Religion/Science
Dichotomy

The Exorcism of Emily Rose asks the interesting question of, “What is possession, real or explained away with mental health diagnoses?” I love the way this movie tackles that question. First, from the side of the Prosecution (science), then from the side of the Defense (religion).

Many times we will see Emily acting possessed, and horrible
things will happen to her that appear to be because of the supernatural. For
example, she will be out in the field in the throws of possession, and stigmata will appear on her
hands. When viewed from the side of the Defense telling the account, it will
appear as it the mark on her hands show up without any outside influence. When
viewed from the side of the Prosecution, it shows that Emily grabs tightly onto
a barbwire fence, producing the wounds in the palm of each hand.

I enjoy the way this movie walks the line between religion
and science – never tainting the audience with a “true” fact one way or the
other.

The Exorcism

We only get to see bits and pieces of the actual exorcism of
Emily, but what we do see is harrowing. The actual (real-life) exorcism of
Emily Rose (a girl named Anneliese Michel) included
67 exorcism attempts.

One of the best parts of the movie is when we learn that
Emily has not one, but six demons residing in her. I really can’t explain this
and do it justice, so check out this clip:

The Verdict

As the trial draws to a close, we get to see the closing arguments
made by both sides. The Prosecution makes the case that this poor girl died a
horrible wasting death while in the care of Father Moore.

The Defense makes a great closing statement. If you scroll
up to the top of this page and listen to our podcast episode, you will hear her
whole closing statement at timestamp 1:02:54.

Final Recommendation

If you are in the mood for a possession movie, this is one of the best. It’s an interesting movie told from a unique perspective and it has aged quite well. The only other possession movie we have reviewed as of the release of this review is The Devil’s Doorway, and Emily Rose is a much better choice.