Post by klep on Oct 31, 2016 7:25:03 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for Halloween!: House
Horror movies try to get reactions from viewers in several different ways. One of the most common methods in recent years has been through gore - body horror, gruesome violence, what some have dubbed as 'extreme cinema'. Other films try to achieve it through suspense and building anticipation. But some horror films try to get their reactions by bending reality until it breaks - creating surreal nightmarescapes that cause serious cognitive dissonance in the viewer. House is one of these.
House looks like some crazy nutjob deciding to mix Lynchian psychodrama, Sirkian melodrama, and Cronenbergian horror and then throw in a heaping helping of lesbian subtext (though it really blurs the line between subtext and text) and slapstick comedy. It makes dramatic and abrupt shifts in tone and cinematic style, from brilliant technicolor backdrops to psychedelic hellscapes. The films' creators seem to have decided that this one film should contain all of the ideas they ever had.
Thus we end up with a film that has an ominous melon merchant, a floating head, cannibalism, a creepy doll, a magic cat, a lovelorn vampire, a pool of blood, a martial arts adept fighting firewood, and most famously a carnivorous piano. It's a wild mix that shouldn't work, but somehow does. The surrealism and shifts are disorienting, so you never know what's coming next - just that it will be bad for the girls.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/7: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
This election season has been so terrifying that the scenario outlined in our next Movie of the Week seems almost quaint. Join us next week as we discuss The Manchurian Candidate. It is available to stream for free for Prime members on Amazon Instant Video if you have a Starz subscription.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/1: My Own Private Idaho
This week the Next Picture Show podcast looks at middle-America with My Own Private Idaho and American Honey. Join us Wednesday as we talk about this Keanu Reeves-starring cult classic.
Horror movies try to get reactions from viewers in several different ways. One of the most common methods in recent years has been through gore - body horror, gruesome violence, what some have dubbed as 'extreme cinema'. Other films try to achieve it through suspense and building anticipation. But some horror films try to get their reactions by bending reality until it breaks - creating surreal nightmarescapes that cause serious cognitive dissonance in the viewer. House is one of these.
House looks like some crazy nutjob deciding to mix Lynchian psychodrama, Sirkian melodrama, and Cronenbergian horror and then throw in a heaping helping of lesbian subtext (though it really blurs the line between subtext and text) and slapstick comedy. It makes dramatic and abrupt shifts in tone and cinematic style, from brilliant technicolor backdrops to psychedelic hellscapes. The films' creators seem to have decided that this one film should contain all of the ideas they ever had.
Thus we end up with a film that has an ominous melon merchant, a floating head, cannibalism, a creepy doll, a magic cat, a lovelorn vampire, a pool of blood, a martial arts adept fighting firewood, and most famously a carnivorous piano. It's a wild mix that shouldn't work, but somehow does. The surrealism and shifts are disorienting, so you never know what's coming next - just that it will be bad for the girls.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 11/7: The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
This election season has been so terrifying that the scenario outlined in our next Movie of the Week seems almost quaint. Join us next week as we discuss The Manchurian Candidate. It is available to stream for free for Prime members on Amazon Instant Video if you have a Starz subscription.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 11/1: My Own Private Idaho
This week the Next Picture Show podcast looks at middle-America with My Own Private Idaho and American Honey. Join us Wednesday as we talk about this Keanu Reeves-starring cult classic.