In the beginning of 2016, Robert Eggers’ The Witch confounded audiences with its slow, not particularly scary take on “a New England Folktale.” In that film, a young woman faces the tyranny of religious and familial oppression in early Puritan New England while also trying to avoid the very-real menace from the film’s title. Different in almost every way, Anna Rose Holmer’s The Fits (2015) seems at first like a sports movie, as it follows a young woman who switches from boxing training to a competitive dance squad housed in the same community center in modern day Cincinnati. Soon, though, the film’s real genre takes hold as women in the crew start to experience mysterious seizures that scare the other members of the squad. Neither film will inspire any screams of terror nor will any viewers’ hearts likely start racing except in appreciation for excellent filmmaking, though both films have terrifically creepy scores and feature some standard horror scenes. What patient audiences will discover, especially if they watch the two films as a double feature, is their shared examination of puberty’s perils for young women when they grow up in places where they are not allowed to be their full selves.
FILMS:
A Cure For Wellness
Due for release in February 2017, this Gore Verbinski directed psychological horror has stirred my interest. The cyclical story has me wondering what they are hiding up there in the Swiss Alps. As one man goes to retrieve the CEO of his company from a wellness spa, his own well-being is tested. Will he fall victim to what ails all those who walk through these doors, or will he escape intact? “Only if we know what ails us, can we find a cure.” If you are looking for jump scares and the such, this might not be for you as it is shaping up to be more of a slow building contemporary gothic film that taps in to your senses.
Women in Horror Film Festival Call for Entries
Dawn Keetley/ UncategorizedHORROR FILMS, TV, AND EVENTS WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2017
Elizabeth Erwin2016 was a great year for horror but we’re hoping for even better things from 2017. Here’s a list from all of us—Liz, Gwen, Dawn—of what we’re eagerly awaiting.
2016 has been a bad year in so many ways (there’s even been a horror movie made about it!) but there were some fantastic horror films released this year—and here’s our top ten. These are all terrifying films, but thought provoking at the same time. So I don’t get repetitious, let me say from the beginning that all ten of these films are superbly acted and directed. And if there’s one of them you haven’t seen yet, make it a new year’s resolution!