Halloween films: Prelude

[haitangkitty]

October is here and I'm watching horror films for the entire month! Last year I only watched two horror films: Salo and the Martyrs - and they were one of the most memorable and disturbing films I've ever seen. I have a watchlist full of different kinds of horror films and I will pick films randomly whatever suits my interests but I try to watch more horror classics this month as well. American slashers are not my favorite horror genre although they are the most popular one so I won't be watching many of those. I'm not an expert on horror films and I haven't seen all the classics (yet). The Shining is probably still the most scariest horror films I've seen and I've watched it 3 times so far and I always find new aspects to it and every time it manages to scare me. My favorites are also Julia Ducornau's Raw and Titane. Last year I also watched a giallo inspired French queer horror Knife+Heart(which I loved) and I decided I to watch more giallo (but so far I've only seen Suspiria). As a teenager I watched the Human Centipede which I didnt find scary only disgusting (but it's not as disgusting as Salo or the Martyrs). One of the scariest horror film I've seen is REC(2007) which is a Spanish found footage horror film. I feel like high budget horror films with great cinematography aren't as scary as those with a low budget - making them seem like an urban legend.

These are the films I actually watched at the end of last month, starting my Halloween film marathon:


Mom, If I were A Vampire (2022)
This is a Taiwanese sapphic short film. I really liked the vibe of it and the soundtrack is amazing. 


Crash (1996)

I finally watched the cult classic. I loved it. Erotic body horror with a bunch of weird freaks. It was also suprisingly bisexual. This is the second Cronenberg I've seen after Videodrome (which is one of my favorite films) and I was not dissapointed. I really want to read the novel I feel like I would get so much more out of it.

The Substance (2024)


Yes I watched this for Margaret Qualley. But I ended up liking Demi Moore's character more. This film has been going viral and I heard it was a body horror about the pressures of women aging so I was naturally interested. Unfortunately... I didn't like the film. Or I did, partly. But I didn't know how seriously I should take it. I would say I did enjoy it in a campy way but it was not a serious film for me and I did not make me think deeply about the pressures around beauty and aging. Helter Skelter and Mask Girl are works that depicted this in a way that resonated with me. It's like a satirical battle between the brainless young sex symbol and a bitter old hag - both of who are the same but still aren't. I really wanted to like this film so I feel a bit dissapointed. The memes about it are funny though.

Comments

[sonofgodzilla]

Crash is so good, I need to revisit that. Both Cronenberg and Ballard really had a big part in shaping my adolescence and are somewhat responsible for me being weird, I think. :p

Helter Skelter and Raw are also both high up on my list! Gosh, you have super great taste!

[haitangkitty]

That's so cool! I need to read the novel asap.
Thanks! It's nice to hear about others who've seen the same films :)

[rogueslayer452]

I have been seeing things about The Substance, mostly in passing, and while it's not been something I'm interested in watching based on what I've seen my immediate thought also landed on Helter Skelter, as well.

[haitangkitty]

Yeah and I liked Helter Skelter way better because it took the horrors of beauty in a serious way whereas the Substance is like a campy satire.