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Posted on December 14, 2018

Frankenstein in a Corset: Talking The Rocky Horror Picture Show

The comedy-horror hybrid can be a tricky genre to get right. This is especially true of those films that attempt to leverage well known monsters. And while names such as Dracula and Werewolf pop up fairly frequently in these types of films, it is The Creature from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein that offers arguably the most interesting template from which to draw inspiration. While some films focus primarily on achieving humor (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein), others dial back the levity to create a more transgressive viewing experience (Lady Frankenstein, Frankenhooker). But one film that manages to blend both aims seamlessly while also offering up a healthy dose of social commentary is The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). Read more

Posted on November 30, 2018

Creepy CliffsNotes: November Edition

Elizabeth Erwin

The weeks after Halloween can feel especially dark. Stores trade in their creepy displays of severed limbs and cobwebs for sparkly tree ornaments and festive lights. For fans of the macabre, it can be downright depressing! Like American Horror Story teen angst levels of depressing!

So to stave off the November doldrums, Horror Homeroom kicked it up a notch by offering an exclusive chapter from Scared Sacred, a look at how Channel Zero is remaking horror television, a reconsideration of the rape scene in Young Frankenstein, and an anniversary look at sex and sisterhood in The Slumber Party Massacre. We followed those essential reads up with a consideration of what is the real horror in It Follows, a list of five horror films set in snowy landscapes, an interview with Boston Underground Film Festival’s Director of Programming, and a must read look at Salem’s Lot and the threat of nuclear war.

That’s a lot of reading goodness and pairs especially well with another piece of pumpkin pie from the fridge. But we’re not done yet! We’re rousing ourselves from our Thanksgiving Day food comas to bring you this month’s very best horror related reads from around the interwebs! Go grab yourself a turkey leg and let’s dig in! Read more

Posted on November 10, 2018

Laughing at Rape: Reconsidering Young Frankenstein

Elizabeth Erwin

In the annals of horror comedy, Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein occupies a unique space for both its plot-driven narrative and its subtle inclusivity. Combining satire, parody and slapstick, the film is effective primarily due to its reinterpretation of genre tropes and its commitment to illustrating how inequitable cultural systems are predicated upon illogical thinking so absurd as to be laughable. And, on the whole, it is a largely effective undertaking. Whether it is Igor’s machinations which work to dismantle ideas about the limitations of disability or Inspector Kemp’s ineptitude which calls into question our blind trust in systems of justice, there is a laudable amount of political subtext permeating the film which is why the rape scene that occurs a mere nine minutes before its conclusion is especially jarring. It would be easier if Young Frankenstein was a film that hates women but it’s not. Instead, the rape scene serves as a spectacular example of the failure of allyship. Read more

Posted on October 31, 2018

Creepy CliffsNotes: October Edition

Elizabeth Erwin

While every day around these parts feels like Halloween, it’s nice to be in the official throes of the one month of the year when people don’t look askance at us for loving horror! So in between haunted hayride jaunts and attempting to pumpkin carve an homage to The Golden Girls, we’ve been busy mainlining all of the great horror that seemingly dropped overnight. Horror television, in particular, is having a moment ya’ll and we heartily recommend you clear your schedule and marathon The Purge and Haunting of Hill House immediately. We’ll talk more about each of these in the future, but trust us that you won’t want to be spoiled.

It’s enough to make even Vincent Price crack a smile, I tell ya!

Posted on September 30, 2018

Creepy CliffsNotes: September Edition

Elizabeth Erwin

Happy Sunday, Horror fiends!

It’s hard to believe that today marks the 30th anniversary of the release of Elvira: Mistress of the Dark since we still feel like the same snot-nosed kids who snuck into the duplex movie theatre and then spent months wondering how we could get our dog to be as cool as Algonquin. So in honor of our much beloved doyenne of horror, we’re rolling out this month’s Creepy Cliff Notes.

You know that death by paperclip scene in Student Bodies? Yeah, that pretty much sums up our current workload. But have no fear because we are Victor Frankenstein levels of committed to scouring the web for horror-related goodies! Read more