2016 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.
Posted on January 2, 2017
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!
Posted on December 27, 2016
Boyism: The Horror of Delayed Manhood in William Brent Bell’s The Boy (2016)
Guest PostWilliam Brent Bell’s 2016 The Boy plays a neat trick on us. The film poses as one genre of horror and then reveals itself to be another. It begins with Greta (Lauren Cohan), an American who, after escaping an abusive relationship that resulted in a miscarriage, travels to Britain to work as a live-in nanny for Brahms, the son of an old English couple, the Heelshires, who live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere. When Greta arrives, she discovers something strange about Brahms: he is a doll, the spitting image of the real Brahms, the Heelshires’ dead son, who died in a housefire years back but is “still with us,” the father explains.
Posted on December 24, 2016
Jacques Tourneur’s Curse of the Demon: Horror and the Persistence of Evil
Dawn KeetleyPartaking in the long tradition of reading ghost stories at Christmas, I’ve recently been immersed in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century supernatural tales of M. R. James. One of my favorites is “Casting the Runes,” published in 1911, about a strangely cursed parchment of runic characters that occultist Karswell passes to his enemies and rivals, ensuring their death in three months unless they are able to pass the paper on. (The central plot device really reminded me of Gore Verbinski’s The Ring—but that’s another post!) James’s “Casting the Runes” has been adapted for television on several occasions, but it was, most famously, made into a 1957 film directed by Jacques Tourneur, called The Night of the Demon (in the UK) and The Curse of the Demon (in the US, where a shortened version was released). The film is flawed, to be sure, but it has some wonderful moments, including two scenes (one of which opens the film) shot at Stonehenge—a Stonehenge before all the barricades, parking lots, gift shops, and tourists. Read more
We’ve been excited to learn that producers of the film Rainy Season, based on the story by Stephen King, are launching a one-of-a-kind film festival in Atlanta in the fall of 2017.
The Women in Horror Film Festival will be dedicated to showcasing and honoring women within the horror genre. They will be welcoming filmmakers and writers from around the world for three days on independent film screenings, industry workshops, and frightening fun!
They will be accepting submissions for films and screenplays through Film Freeway beginning January 1, 2017.
Spots are still available for sponsors and vendors, as well as advertising opportunities.
If you would like to be apply to be a judge or volunteer for the fest, you can send an inquiry to WIHfilmfest@gmail.com.
For more information, please visit their website or on Facebook and Twitter.
