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Posted on March 6, 2019

Appropriating Aokigahara?: Talking The Forest (2016)

Directed by Jason Zada, The Forest is ostensibly the journey of a young woman who travels across the world to find her twin sister who has gone missing. But lurking beneath this benign narrative is a complicated web of PTSD, trauma, and grief. Situated in Aokigahara, a place in Japan known internationally as The Suicide Forest, the film borrows liberally from Japanese mythology but should it? In this episode, the Horror Homeroom crew considers The Forest’s place within the natural horror canon and debates the impact of cultural appropriation within the genre. Read more

Posted on February 3, 2019

Feminist Exploitation?: Talking The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

Elizabeth Erwin

It’s Women in Horror Month and we’re taking on Amy Holden Jones’ The Slumber Party Massacre (1982). Both adored and reviled, this cult classic consistently divides audiences. Is it feminist? Is it exploitative? Can it be both?

Today the Horror Homeroom crew is weighing in on those questions as well as asking whether death by a 12-inch drill can ever be anything other than phallic.

Posted on January 12, 2019

Transgressing Grief: Talking Pet Sematary (1989)

Elizabeth Erwin

Love it or hate it, Pet Sematary (1989) remains one of the most controversial entries in the Stephen King cinematic oeuvre. Today we are diving into this controversial examination of grief and looking at all the ways in which the movie transgresses against cultural taboos. Does the movie’s most shocking moments still hold up?

The entire Horror Homeroom crew is here and we’re talking Jud’s questionable nature, what Zelda brings to the story, whether we should be watching the movie as folk horror and so much more!

Posted on December 23, 2018

The Pro-Sex Slasher: Talking Black Christmas (1974)

Elizabeth Erwin

Holiday horror is a mixed bag. For every acknowledged gem (Rare Exports, Better Watch Out), there exist some seriously awful yuletide tales (Santa Claws, To All a Good Night). Occasionally though, a film will get it so right that it establishes a template for the films that followed. Such is the case with the cult classic Black Christmas (1974). Criminally overlooked, this film by Bob Clark is typically recognized for establishing some of the most well-known tropes of the slasher genre. But it is its transgressive female characters that really steal the show and leave us asking why these characterizations didn’t become the standard.

In this Horror Homeroom Conversation, we’re kicking it back to 1974 with the ultimate holiday horror film, Black Christmas, and considering how the depictions of women in horror might be different had this film had gone mainstream.

Posted on December 14, 2018

Frankenstein in a Corset: Talking The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Elizabeth Erwin

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