One of the bigger complaints I hear about horror films in various reviews is that “it made me feel uncomfortable.” Usually leading to the reviewer giving the film a bad review.

Discomfort is one of those things that really puts people off to an experience. I get that. It’s a feeling that’s got a lot of negative associations.

But it’s also what precedes any serious bit of growth and is often found along the path from ignorance to understanding.

Discomfort crops up when you’re out of your comfort zone. And it’s your “comfort zone” that will kill you with stagnation if you’re not careful.

I love films and stories that make me feel uncomfortable. It means I stand to learn something from them–either about myself or about the world in general. Usually something I wouldn’t learn otherwise.

We spend a lot of our lives avoiding being uncomfortable and scared. For at least some of us who love horror films, we seek out those feelings. And when we can get both of them at once–discomfort that gives way to enlightenment and fear that explodes into a release–well, that’s a magical thing, indeed.

Both movies from the last regular night of the Spooky Movie Film Festival provided those feelings. They Look Like People was intensely uncomfortable in places, not being sure whether the main character was crazy or was actually being made ready to face a demonic invasion. German Angst was decided European in its style and, for those of us in the U.S., that’s always a bit uncomfortable (take us out of our cultural element and we don’t know how to react all the time). Definitely films I’d recommend. German Angst, though, most certainly isn’t for everyone. It’s not the most graphic film, but the mix of realistic and ritualistic violence really isn’t at everyone’s cup of tea. Even more so with the sexual themes involved in at least part of the film.

Now that Spooky is over, I won’t be running around quite as much and may actually have a chance to get ahead of the game again. Maybe even figure out some titles or something. This coming week, I’m going to try to move away from fictional spooky things and into more real-world ones. We’ll see how that goes.

So, here’s the vlog on those last two movies. Enjoy!

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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I’ve known for a long time that I’ve had odd tastes in entertainment.

Compared to the sensibilities in my small town, they’re downright weird.

I like horror films and other fantastical genres. I like thinking deeply about those films (and TV shows and stories).

Thing is… I don’t fit in with a good hunk of the rest of the fans of the things I enjoy. I don’t get quite as passionate about things as some. I’m much pickier about others.

This becomes particularly clear when it comes to horror films.

See, I actually like my horror films smart and scary (in general). Sure, I love Evil Dead 2 and thoroughly enjoy some schlock every now and then. But most low-budget horror-comedy? Don’t much care for it.

I was reminded of this when I saw Killer Rack the other night. I chuckled a few times, but mostly I just rolled my eyes and cringed. Other people in the theater enjoyed it a lot more. That’s often the case with these films.

So, reviewing them seems a bit… difficult. I mean, the goal was to make a funny, bad movie… and, as far as most people are concerned, it was, indeed, funny (there’s no question about the “bad” part). Since I don’t care for the style, though, there’s not a lot good I can say about it and everything generally bad I’d have to say is, well, pretty much what everyone else considers “good” in the style.

Which leaves tonight’s review a bit awkward.

So, take it as more of my own opinion than usual. I don’t have a decent enough yardstick for measuring “intentional crap” movies when they make the audience happy. (Which this one most certainly did.)

Anyway, took the night off of the movie fest so I could catch up with some other things (like sleep). I’ll be back out tomorrow night… but I already have tomorrow’s special vlog #25 shot… and should have it ready to go sometime during the day tomorrow.

Here’s tonight’s review… it’s the breast I could do. 😉

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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It’s one thing to have a family business where everyone goes and works at the restaurant or retail store or becomes a lawyer and joins the family practice.

It’s another thing to get the whole family involved in a tale of utter psychological terror, where they’re all–including the young daughter–more or less playing themselves.

Luciferous is exactly that other thing. And it’s pretty excellent.

This is the first full-length feature for Mahsa Ghorbankarimi and Alexander Gorelick, but you really wouldn’t know it until right at the end of the film. It’s a slow build to full-steam-ahead terror, but every step of the way it’s a believable story of either supernatural predation or pure mental breakdown.

With everyone playing themselves, the relationship dynamics are believable and what would otherwise be bad dialog reads true to who these “characters” are. It also makes the emotion–like when their daughter goes missing or when Alex is afraid he’s going to hurt his family–more raw and real than what you normally see in a first production on this scale.

Needless to say, this is much more my kind of film than Valley of the Sasquatch was. I’ve been reminded that my taste in horror films is very, very different from most other people who seem to be “fans” of horror. I’m okay with that… as long as I get some good films like this out of the deal.

So, here’s the vlog where I gush a bit over this film. If you get the chance (and you will get the chance, they’ve already got a distribution deal for next year), and you love some deeply dramatic and realistic horror, check this out.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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I’m often a little picky about the movies I see in the theater. I figure if I’m going out and paying to see something, it should be something I’m really interested in that I’ll likely enjoy.

But when there’s a film festival things are a little different. Especially if I’ve gone and bought a full pass. Then I’ll go and see pretty much anything.

That’s the situation tonight. After watching the trailer for Valley of the Sasquatch, I’d have been hard pressed to decide to see it if I hadn’t already paid for the festival pass. I most certainly wouldn’t have tried to dig up anyone to go see it with me. Maybe I’d have caught it on Netflix, eventually. (I’ve been surprised by movies before that I didn’t think were going to be that good… notably, in this case, because they’re similarly premised films, is Wendigo.)

Needless to say, I didn’t care much for this film. Despite the fact that it’s won awards, it really didn’t work for me.

It lacks any sort of heart. It’s inconsistent. And, in my opinion, it misses the chance to make a number of statements about a number of things.

See, good writing naturally has themes that develop as the story plays out. Maybe it’s an environmental theme–how our destruction of natural habitats put us at odds with animals (or monsters) we don’t normally interact with. Or maybe it’s how the ties of family, memories of the good times, shared suffering, or some other really human aspect, help us get past some pretty serious problems. Perhaps it’s just the simple message of “Don’t be a dick” or “Poking at Bigfoot is a bad thing.”

You can create a story without a theme… you can just string scenes together, have characters doing what’s typical to do for their archetypes, not deviating from what’s expected. But that’s not good writing. That’s purely utilitarian writing. It’s passable, but, at best, it’s mediocre.

It’s just a walk in the woods… or just being chased by things in the woods. And that’s not anything really special.

Mediocre is worse than bad. At least with bad you stand a chance of becoming a cult classic by finding a viewership that loves poking fun at your film.

So, for all you creators out there, strive to be excellent… but go all out. As long as you go all out, you’ll either be awesome or awesomely bad. Don’t play it safe. Playing it safe is how you end up mediocre. And there’s really no winning like that.

Unless all your competition is on the down side of the mediocre plateau, I guess.

Tomorrow will be another movie at Spooky Fest, this time with a Q&A with the directors. I really hope the movie is awesome, one way or the other.

Anyway, here’s today’s vlog wherein I talk a bit about the problems with the movie.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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When it comes to many things I enjoy, the amount of “heart” they have is kind of important.

That basically means that they have some emotional substance, usually positive or, at least, humane. It’s something that makes the show or movie (or music or book or whatever) enjoyable on a deeper level. It’s the whiplash deep belly laugh to near tears that Robin Williams could bring out in movies like Dead Poets Society. Or when the Terminator says “I know now why you cry” in Terminator 2.

It even exists in horror films. A little more rarely, being that horror is mostly about people at their worst and/or most harried, but it still shines through sometimes. The scene between The Monster and the blind Man in Bride of Frankensteinien.

Heart is that moment when something suddenly becomes very, very real. When it crosses the line from just being entertaining to having meaning. At least meaning for you.

What you consider “heart” may just be “sappy” or “trite” or “twee” to someone else. That’s… okay. It’s about your experience with that bit of entertainment. It’s about how that creation interacts with the life forces within you.

The Final Girls is more of a meta-horror film than a straight horror film. It’s at least a horror-comedy… and commentary on the genre. But, as far as I’m concerned, it’s got heart. And, on top of the technically solid nature of the film, that puts it more than a little ahead of a lot of other things out there.

I may gush a little over the flick in today’s vlog.

Don’t forget that you have some say over what goes on for the next 100 days… click the big green button below here to get to the page where you can submit topic suggestions and questions (so I know what kinds of things you want to see go on in these videos).

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