MANDY, CARRIE, and the Power of Names in Horror, and More!
In this Issue:
- Horror History: The Name Game
- Image of the Week: It Clown Cubed
- Tiny Bites – This Week’s Best Horror Headlines
- The States of Horror: Kentucky + Louisiana
- A Very Shudder Book Club: What We’re Reading
- Hey, That’s Us! – Shudder in the News
THE HORROR HISTORY: THE NAME GAME
“If only they knew she had the power.”
Carrie’s is my very favorite tagline. It’s alluring, it’s a little dangerous, it promises “the power.” And if you’ve seen Carrie, you know that power is something both the title character and actress Sissy Spacek hold over the entire proceedings. That power, radiating from a single person/character/performer and their bewitching energy is something any movie hopes to achieve, but especially those with a name in the title. It should be declarative, magnetic. When successful, it operates as a spell, both intention and invocation. Just think of how ethereal many of us felt after this year’s most thrillingly named title: Mandy.
The name-as-title should clue us in to a film’s spirit, to a character, to an identity, and maybe a transformation. This leads all the way back to stories like Sheridan Le Fanu’s seductive vampire novella, “Carmilla” (and its ’70s Mexican film adaptation, the savage Alucarda). There’s Carrie, of course, honing us in on the isolated girl, bullied, religiously and domestically repressed, but simmering with something uncanny. Carrie is not all that she seems. Movies in Carrie’s tradition usually center on a burgeoning power or demonic possession. In both cases, something from within is breaking the surface to force a coming-of-age or supernatural reckoning.
Pre-Carrie, in 1974, there was Abby, a film commonly understood as the “Blaxploitation Exorcist,” which saw a marriage counselor and preacher’s wife possessed by an African demon that forces her to engage in increasingly sexual and violent behavior. Post-Carrie, there were the lesser, still very entertaining rips: films like Jennifer (she can control snakes!), Aussie gemPatrick, and the Curtis Harrington-helmed Ruby (co-starring Carrie’s Piper Laurie).
The legacy remains, too. There’s Junji Ito’s ’80s manga and its many film adaptations, Tomie. More recently, there was Spanish demonic possession favorite Veronica; a South American psychothriller also called Veronica; and last year’s acclaimed Scandinavian arthouse spin on psychic rage, Thelma. Those three use various devices (possession, madness, telekinesis) to probe the idea of something within the title character, be it an understanding of one’s own self or a confrontation with trauma. This year’s Lizzie omits her last name (Borden) in an attempt to tell the mythic accused murderer’s story differently.
Mandy signals something else in the name-as-title, however, because one would say that Mandy isn’t the “main” character of the movie. Mandy is a title under the influence. It’s like Hitchcock’s gothic classic,Rebecca or Otto Preminger’s all-timer noir,Laura — tales that bathe us in the lingering scent of their title characters. Instead, Mandy’s protagonist is Red, the husband, boldly portrayed by Nicolas Cage, who goes on an increasingly psychedelic and demonic journey of vengeance.
But the title, Mandy, gives us a reason, an emotion. And the movie, Mandy, gives us far more time with the avenged than is conventional. Mandy, stunningly embodied by Andrea Riseborough, holds us in her gaze. We meet Mandy, we love Mandy, and when the second half of this lengthy movie truly begins, we miss Mandy. It’s an altogether more transcendent approach than the what-would-you-do scenarios of more basic revenge flicks.
And it all starts with that title. Sure, any of these films could be the same, just called something else. It’s also entirely possible each name has the power.
IMAGE OF THE WEEK: IT CLOWN CUBED
Melbourne artist Giovanni Contardi created a portrait of Pennywise made entirely of Rubik’s cubes, which somehow manages to make Stephen King’s It clown even creepier.
TINY BITES
CHILD’S PLAY‘S DEADLY DOLL, TWILIGHTRECONSIDERED & MORE
According to Salon, all Hallmark Christmas movies are really horror movies in disguise.
Why have more exorcisms been taking place in 2018 than ever before? A Yale historian says it’s due to our “hunger for contact with the supernatural.”
One reason TV shows about Satan are so hot right now is because, traditionally, stories about the devil are also stories about women.
In other Satanic news, the Satanic Temple’s lawsuit against Chilling Adventures of Sabrina over the use of a replica of its goat deity statue has been settled .
They’re young, they’re obnoxious, they’re deadly. They’re the 12 creepiest kids in horror.
Making the case that Twilight is “the most underappreciated movie franchise of the last 10 years.”
Greg Russo, screenwriter for the upcoming Resident Evil reboot, promises he’s going to “go back and make it scary again.”
The Cloverhitch Killer brings something unique to horror cinema’s long, rich tradition of deviant dads.
Andrew Movitz, founder of the Creepypasta wiki, explains the evolution of Creepypasta culture.
Patrick Süskind’s horrifying 1985 serial killer novelPerfume will be a six-episode Netflix series (the series is also called Parfum). Check out the trailer.
The L.A. Times says even though horror is popular with viewers, “it’s got merely a ghost of a chance when it comes to winning awards.”
Here are eight of the strangest and steamiest horror sex scenes. (We’re still cringing over Teeth.)
Seeing Dennis Quaid crash through the door at the 2:07 mark in the new trailer for The Intruder gave us a “Jack Nicholson in The Shining” flashback.
The upcoming Child’s Play reboot launched a clever site about the movie’s new Buddi doll. Unfortunately, “Buddi doll not available for purchase.”
2018 is almost over so here are 2019’s top 10 indie horror movies.
THE STATES OF HORROR: KENTUCKY + LOUISIANA
Today’s States of Horror is a voodoo punk party of straight up gems.
Kentucky: The Return of the Living Dead
The Return of the Living Dead has less the honor of being set in Kentucky than Kentucky has the honor of being set in Return of the Living Dead. Dan O’Bannon’s punk horror treasure is a stone cold essential of both the zombie canon and horror comedy, having gifted us the Tarman; a zombie’s first utterance of “Braains”; and all-time un-self aware one-liner, “You think this is a fuckin’ costume? This is a way of life.” Anyway, ROTLD is set in a Louisville warehouse where the toxic remains of a military experiment gone wrong are unleashed. Zombies and one seriously bitchin’ soundtrack ensue.
Louisiana: Angel Heart and Eve’s Bayou
One, bonafide horror noir. The other, a familial psychodrama, informed by mystery, emotion, and the supernatural. Both films, each with a respective growing cult, are imbued with the uncanny atmosphere and beauty of Louisiana. Adapted from the Wiliam Hjortsberg novel Fallen Angel, Angel Heart finds New York City private eye Harry Angel uprooted from his concrete home to find a missing singer in New Orleans. The once-controversial film (due to a bold and provocative turn from Lisa Bonet) fills Harry’s journey with increasing terror, thanks to vicious, and viciously realized, occult violence rooted in a pulpy vision of Louisiana voodoo. Director Kasi Lemmons’ Eve’s Bayouon the other hand, is an assured, and occasionally spooky, drama about a young girl making sense of her family’s life, transgressions, celebrations and culture. Where Angel Heart’s fun is in its salacious grin, Eve’s Bayou’s impact is in its mystical air and empathetic, earnest perspective.
A VERY SHUDDER BOOK CLUB: WHAT WE’RE READING
The universe of those underground flesh-eating mutants from the 1984 cult classic C.H.U.D. expands in C.H.U.D. LIVES!: A Tribute Anthology, which features short stories from Bram Stoker Award-winning writers like Jonathan Maberry, Mort Castle, Tim Waggoner, and many others. The book also includes interviews with the film’s producer and screenwriter, as well as never-before-seen behind-the-scenes photos. The original film’s tagline claimed, “You Won’t Want To Know What It Means.” But for those of us who do, there’s C.H.U.D. LIVES!
HEY, THAT’S US! – SHUDDER IN THE NEWS
Revenge is #23 on Esquire‘s list of the 25 best movies of 2018 — and Mandy is #1!
Joe Bob Briggs Offers Advice to Burgeoning Horror Hosts