Showing posts with label Jennifer's Body. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jennifer's Body. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2020

TEENAGE FURY



Brigette


Ginger Snaps (2000)
Director: John Fawcett
Writers: Karen Walton (written by and story), John Fawcett (story)
Stars: Emily Perkins, Katharine Isabelle, Kris Lemche

Hard Candy (2005)
Director: David Slade
Writer: Brian Nelson
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page, Sandra Oh

Jennifer's Body (2009)
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writer: Diablo Cody
Stars: Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody

Many modern, female-centered, coming-of-age horror movies share common roots with ancient Grecian dramas wherein individuals act as stand-ins for greater societal concepts. Coming-of-age stories feature an essential turning point that allows the protagonist to display their progress towards maturity. Needy, Haley, and Brigette, the protagonists of Jennifer’s Body, Hard Candy and Ginger Snaps, reach that point and beyond as they display characteristics similar to the stages of development the ancient Greeks went through on their evolution toward a legal system that was fair to all, as fifth century BC playwright Aeschylus illustrated in his play cycle The Oresteia. The three plays, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides, symbolically tell the tale of Ancient Greece's coming-of-age via the conversion from lawlessness and vigilantism to a legal code that applied to all and was enforced by the government, not individuals. This progression is mirrored by the adolescent girls' transition from the chaotic powerlessness of childhood to the responsibility that comes with the agency of adulthood.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Shocktoberfest 2015-The Mist (Frank Darabont, 2007)

Every spring, my old home state of Vermont shuts down for  Town Meeting Day. This a day for the populace to practice democracy by directly by debating, discussing and voting on various ordinances.  It is a tradition that goes back to the 17th century.  On Town Meeting Day in 1999, Vermont Public Radio broadcast a brief interview with author Stephen King about the new mini-series based on his novel Storm of the Century.  The timing was no coincidence since the climax of Storm takes place at what is probably one of the saddest Town Meetings in literature. I cannot remember his exact words (and if anyone can find them-you'll earn a place of honor in my heart), King started the interview by saying that there was nothing scarier to him than a group of ordinary citizens gathered together in terrible circumstances.  This theme returns time and again in many of his works and their various sized screen adaptations but one of the best is Frank Darabont's 2007 version of King's novella The Mist. Huddled together for survival in a New England grocery store the morning after a storm, this collection of concerned citizens gleefully shed their silly man suits and willfully start biting the heads off their neighbors for the singular pleasure of shitting down their necks almost as soon as the blood from the first victims starts to fly.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Insomniac Theater Presents: My (Pretty lame for a guy that calls hmself a horror movie fan) Shocktober Movie List


The Halloween Spirit  appeared, for the first time this year, on Friday night when Adrienne and I went to see The Rocky Horror Picture Show,  a loving tribute to many of the movies I saw as a kid.  This was the first time in (way) over two decades that I had been to a "live" RHPS showing.  Fortunately it wasn't at midnight because there is no way I could have stayed up that late.

It was a great show; in addition to the antics in the audience, there was a fairly well choreographed stage show.  Many of the men and woman in the audience wore jaw-droppingly revealing costumes, often made up of bustiers, lingerie and thigh high stockings held in place with a garter belt.  I was hoping to see amongst the usual Playboy Bunnys, sexy nurses, maids, stewardesses and pirate babes, some serious female role model type  costumes like Slutty Secretary of State or Supreme Court Dominatrix.


Monday, November 8, 2010

Here are some of the things I really want to talk about:


(This is a repost from my other blog.  This was when I decided I should start a new blog.)
I am a lifelong fan of horror movies and this past October I immersed myself in them. I watched old horror films, from the 1932 White Zombie to a slew of recent remakes of classic horror films such as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Nightmare on Elm Street, Dawn of the Dead,and Halloween, and some new original films like Jennifer's Body, Trick 'r Treat and House of the Devil.
I have to say that compared to the originals, these remakes were pretty tepid. The new Texas Chainsaw Massacre is nowhere  nearly as frightening or bull-goose loony as the first one. One thing missing was the totally over the top family dinner scene, where a shrieking Marilyn Burns is tied to an armchair made from real human arm’s.


Fangs of the Living Dead
I was also pleased to watch several Euro-horror films from the mid 1970s. Many of these films are pretty obscure and maybe for good reason. They all thrived on bizarre plot twists, poor acting, and incomprehensible dialogue. On the other hand they were all gorgeously filmed, featured great costumes and sets, and made excellent use of the beautiful female stars.


The Blood Drinkers


Lastly, I spent a lot of time watching a group of films by Filipino auteur Eddie Romero. These films were made in the late sixties and early seventies and most featured the word blood in the title. The best of these films is called The Blood Drinkers and can be watched for free at Hulu.com. Beautifully shot in a mixture of color, black and white and monochrome tinted scenes, and populated with some of the most interesting villains I’ve ever seen, it reminded me of the stylish films of Jean Rollin.

My companion for most of these films has been Olivia, our black cat. She curls up in the crook of my arm and watches as my computer screen with me. I’m pretty sure she’s not actually watching the movies, but rather than moving colors on the screen. Otherwise I would give for one of my ear buds so she could listen.