Horror Homeroom

Posted on July 15, 2015

The Gallows (2015) Film Review

Gwen

R | 81min | 2015 | (USA) | Travis Cluff , Chris Lofing

Synopsis: Twenty years after a tragic accident during a high school play the students try to pay respects by resurrecting the play. This time Charlie returns to finish business and steal the show.

Review: This one leaves audiences swinging limp in the wind.

The pros: Although the film is written by two men, it comes across quite female centered.

I find the weapon of choice to be quite interesting. I am not typically a subscriber to psychoanalytic theory when it comes to horror films. However, it is quite rare for the killer to use a weapon that is not categorically phallic. In fact the noose is everything opposite of phallic. It is a receptacle that encompasses and takes control over that which enters it. This brings me to my next point.

Posted on July 13, 2015

AMC’s Humans Review: The 21st-century Stepford Wives?

Dawn Keetley

Having watched two episodes of AMC’s intriguing new series, Humans (on Sunday nights at 9), I have been struck with how eerily similar it is to the 1975 horror-thriller, The Stepford Wives (Bryan Forbes). Humans is a British-American co-production, running for eight episodes, and based on the award-winning Swedish drama, Real Humans. It is, on the one hand, obviously sci-fi, yet it also partakes of horror, I argue, in that is fundamentally about the dread of an uncertain identity and the terrifyingly tenuous boundaries of the human. Who are we? Who are those around us? Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956) famously took up these questions—and, more recently, so did The Cabin in the Woods (Drew Goddard, 2012). As Marty (Fran Kranz) says, “We are not who we are.” The larger question horror asks is: Are we ever?

Posted on July 11, 2015

Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012) Review

Gwen

Jersey Shore Shark Attack is full of surprises!

As Horror Homeroom’s first edition of shark week comes to an end we wanted to leave you with a good taste in your mouth. That’s why I want to complete this week with a film that is pure, gluttonous fun. I wish I could convey in words the sheer bliss that I felt after watching this film, but it is something that needs experiencing. It is exactly what it sounds like: a cross between MTV’s “Jersey Shore” and Jaws (1975) and it is nothing short of AMAZING. It is a perfect crescendo for our shark week because it reminds us that sharks can be anxiety inducing but more importantly, thrill inducing. What Jersey Shore Shark Attack boils down to is simple amusement. There is no significant social commentary or any smart themes about nature but there are gun toting, fist pumping Guidos who rid Seaside Heights, NJ of its killer albino sharks. There are minor underlying comments about class and gentrification but if you watch this film you watch it for the fun, the cast, and the death scenes.

Posted on July 9, 2015

Shark Horror, Part 2: The Shark in the Human World

Dawn Keetley

In my first post on shark horror, I wrote about “naturalistic horror,” which puts us firmly in the terrain of the shark, in a world relatively indifferent to humans (except as food), in which the good guys don’t necessarily come out on top (or even alive), and death is random. In this post I want to write about something very different, what we might call “humanist horror.” In this variant, sharks come into our terrain, events (including death) seem governed by human rules (a few unsavory jerks or insignificant extras are eaten), and the good guys come out on top. These films tend to be horror-comedy—and really not that scary.

The hallmark of these films is that they eschew the existential dread invoked by sending humans out into the ocean—into the shark’s world. Instead, they bring the shark to where we live.

Posted on July 8, 2015

Horror Rewatch: Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Gwen

Deep Blue Sea appreciates nature’s preeminent design-the shark.

R | 105min | 1999 | (USA) | Renny Harlin

Let’s get the meat and potatos out of the way: Imdb aptly describes the film as: “Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.” Deep Blue Sea certainly packs a punch with its special effects, animatronics, and plot twists. Without giving away spoilers, I have to concede that this film certainly has my personal favorite death scene of all time to date. Similar to so many of the pets on my top ten horrific pets list these sharks only become killers once man meddles in matters of nature, or more specifically with God’s perfect design.

Deep Blue Sea suggests that sharks are quite infallible by design. During a discussion between scientists they mention that sharks are the oldest and most efficient creatures on the planet they never get cancer, go blind, or show loss of brain functioning. In the mind of lead scientist Dr. McCallister (Saffron Burrows) this is what makes them the perfect candidate for her intrusive and unethical scientific practices. Read more