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Posted on January 11, 2016

Short Cuts: Cherry Darling in Planet Terror

Note: Short Cuts is our new feature in which we consider an image in horror and examine its broader cultural implications. It is not intended to offer definitive analysis but to start a conversation about broader cultural topics related to the genre. We hope that by throwing out a few ideas related to an image that we will start a community wide discussion.

It is impossible to look at the above image and not think of Laura Mulvey’s groundbreaking theory of the male gaze. In her influential essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Mulvey posits that women are used in media for visual pleasure and that they become sexualized objects through voyeurism. Certainly, this image—of Cherry Darling in Planet Terror (2007)—contains all of the markers traditionally associated with the male gaze, from the spectacle created through clothing to the clear observational viewpoint of the camera. And yet, this reading dismisses the highly charged narrative operating beneath the surface of the image.

Posted on January 6, 2016

Horror Block Subscription Box Review

Elizabeth Erwin

Full disclosure: I have a slight addiction when it comes to collecting items related to The Walking Dead. And by slight addiction I mean entire rooms packed with merchandise, autographs, and all those bits and baubles associated with the show. So when it was announced that Horror Block was going to contain an exclusive TWD item, I knew the time was right to finally try out a subscription box service.

What You Need to Know:

The Cost: $19.99 plus shipping (Shipping is $8.75 to Canada, $9.50 to US, $12.50 Worldwide)

What’s In It: All Horror Blocks comes with a custom t-shirt (you specify the size) and 5 or so items including the latest Rue Morgue.

Ships to: US, Canada, and Worldwide!

The December 2015 Box Contents:

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the box’s merchandise as well as its packaging.

Posted on December 30, 2015

The Lurking (2015) Review

Elizabeth Erwin

82 min | 2015 | (USA) | Rob Michels (Hole in the Wall)

With an opening that immediately creates an observational vibe, The Lurking is a fun throwback to 1980s horror, capturing all the qualities that made the era such a popular one in American horror. The story begins with two roadie slackers, referred to in the credits as Wasteoid 1 and Wasteoid 2, who have taken to the woods “to trip balls.” Unbeknownst to them, a serial killer is wreaking havoc in those same woods and it isn’t long before he has the two drug-addled men within his sights.

We soon discover that the perspective from which we are watching events unfold is not the point of view of an impartial observer: we’re looking through the eyes of the killer. By having the camera consistently adopt the point of view of the killer, the audience becomes an active participant in the murders and the end result is more intimate than one would expect.

Posted on December 23, 2015

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984): Connecting Depravity with Childhood Trauma

Elizabeth Erwin

The corruption of childhood by adults, both neglectful and deranged, is a predictable staple of American horror films. Throw in a murderous Santa Claus and a whip-wielding nun and the moral depravity gets ratcheted up ten-fold. Such is the case in Charles E. Sellier, Jr.’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. Residing between ridiculously quotable dialogue and an endless array of sexual, albeit creative, violence is a pointed commentary on the connection between depravity and trauma. The film’s message is clear: it isn’t so much the creatures of myth (Santa, The Boogeyman) children ought to fear but the adults who surround them.

You know a horror film has ticked all the right boxes when the PTA petitions to have it banned. Such was the case in 1984 when Silent Night, Deadly Night opened and immediately raised the hackles of media watchdog groups. Despite its opening weekend grossing more than A Nightmare on Elm Street, TriStar Pictures pulled the plug on its media campaign and the film quickly faded from theatres.

In many respects, the controversy surrounding the 1984 release of the film as well as its advertisements showing an axe-hefting Santa Claus emerging from a chimney seems an echo of a simpler time. People still picketed theatres and film critics still had the power to shape public perception. Consider Leonard Maltin who gave Silent Night, Deadly Night zero stars and predicted the next thing filmgoers would be subjected to would be the Easter Bunny as a child molester. Also weighing in were the notable film critic duo of Siskel and Ebert. Their eviscerating review of the film, in which they called out by name—repeatedly—the people associated with the film, is the stuff of legend:

Posted on December 9, 2015

Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976) Review

Elizabeth Erwin

In the pantheon of sharkploitation films, Mako: The Jaws of Death (1976) stands apart as a legitimately interesting take on the shark in horror trope. Unlike its predecessors, the audience isn’t asked to identify with those seeking to wrangle the flesh eating oceanic monsters. Rather, the sharks and their somewhat psychotic human caretaker become the heroes of the piece. Directed by known exploitation auteur William Grefe, the film includes all of the ridiculousness you’d expect of a B film with an underlining message about the importance of protecting the natural world from humans. The end result is a bizarre film that still resonates years later.