THE LAST HORROR FILM (1982) - Troma Entertainment

The Last Horror Film
Troma Entertainment

Original Release Date Oct. 9th, 1982
Written by Judd Hamilton, David Winters, Tom Klassen
Directed by David Winters
Starring Joe Spinell, Caroline Munro, Glenn Jacobson, Don Talley
Language English (subtitles available)

Get your copy HERE from MVD

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

The Movie Itself: Excellent

More than most labels, a Troma release is always something I kind of have to steel myself for. No disrespect to them at all, I'm a fan (Lloyd Kaufman even once told me he loved me), but with Troma, much like a certain much-discussed box of chocolates, you don't always know what you're gonna get (*). Sometimes you get gleefully gross, intentionally button-pushing, gory, silly, horny, fever dream films like The Toxic Avenger (1984), Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986), or my personal favorite: Tromeo and Juliet (1996). Sometimes you get a lesser-known, overlooked horror film that Troma have just picked up to release. If I'd done even a cursory look into the background of The Last Horror Film, I'd have known what I was in for, but I prefer to go into these disc reviews as blind as possible; it's just more fun. 

(*) This initially came down to whether the film was being made in-house by the Troma team and the creatives in their orbit, or was an independently made film that they just decided to distribute and release. Obviously, as Troma's goopy, radioactive shadow has grown over the years, more films are being independently made that ape the Troma style, which muddies the water a little bit. But I digress.

All of which is to say that The Last Horror Film is the latter: independently made on the heels of the success of Maniac (1980) which also starred Joe Spinell as a sweaty, bug-eyed weirdo and was produced in part by Judd Hamilton. Maniac made such a splash that Hamilton was asked to get another film under production ASAP. Though he wanted to work on something more in the science fiction genre, he was essentially forced into playing in the horror space again. Obviously, reteaming with Spinell was the smart move, and locking down the beautiful Caroline Munro, former Bond girl in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), makes perfect sense.

In The Last Horror Film (also known as Fanatic), Spinell plays a movie-obsessed NY cabbie Vinny who buys himself a ticket to crash the Cannes film festival so he can convince scream queen Jana Bates (Munro) to star in his debut feature. Once at the festival, murders begin happening, all with Bates at the center: her husband, various industry professionals, etc. Obviously, Vinny must be behind it all... right? The film plays with the audience's understanding and love of horror movies to get a little bit meta, using the movie-within-a-movie format as a way to showcase creative kills and keep viewers guessing.

A high concept, low budget slasher, The Last Horror Film knows what its audience wants and in my opinion it really delivers. The kills are creative and nasty--Munro herself, in clips from some of the films she's starred in as Bates, dies via electrocution in a hot tub and by having her face blowtorched off--and Vinny's numerous fantasy / dream sequences look fantastic; all smoke, abstract light, and bizarre imagery like a melting Academy Award or Vinny confronting the pretentious director within himself!

Filming guerrilla style at the Cannes film festival lends the film a lot of production value (and casual nudity), as does a third act location change to a gorgeous castle villa! Personally, I'm a fan of fake movies in movies, and The Last Horror Film has a handful. All are a lot of fun and utilized to keep the momentum up throughout the film's runtime. But so much of the film's success really falls on the shoulders of Caroline Munro and the late, great Joe Spinell. Munro weaponizes her beauty to play a put-upon actress being driven to near madness by shocking acts of violence at nearly every turn and Spinell gives another fearlessly grimy performance as a degenerate who nevertheless loves the same kind of movies we do. Just, hopefully, not the same way.

The Packaging: Average

This is slightly wider, and therefore slightly sturdier blue snap case with a single-sided cover and the disc included. It's perfectly fine, but I'm not a fan of how busy the cover is. It depicts a frame of celluloid with Jana screaming while in a shower, and it has been scratched out, as happens in the film. This is all fine, but then there is a LOT of text. A banner advertising "TROMATIC SPECIAL EDITION", the Troma Entertainment credit, AND the logo, a pull quote from Fangoria, then the title, some cast & crew bonafides and finally a legend advertising "Featuring the music of DEPECHE MODE".

Y'all. It's one song. It's a perfectly well-suited Depeche Mode song--Photographic off of their debut album Speak & Spell--and it's utilized well in the film, but did we really need to advertise that on the already-crowded cover? For what it's worth, the back is also crowded, but as is the case with a lot of modern physical releases, the majority of that real estate is taken up with the hefty list of special features. I won't really complain about that for obvious reasons.

The Video: Good

The transfer here looks great! In transfers, occasionally you'll find some instances of the clean-up/restoration process adding extra visual noise (an overall sandy texture), especially in scenes shot in low light. Here, while there is some film grain which is to be expected, even the lower-light scenes look well-made and well-preserved. The colors really pop, and the more abstract visuals are all the more exciting for it.

Whether we're on gritty New York City streets, the topless beaches of the French Riviera, a glamorous gala, or a sun-drenched villa, the entire film has a seedy nervous energy to it, translated to the audience through the frequently active camera work. It's not Paul Greengrass levels of motion anything, but there were frequent instances of the camera roving about.

But my personal favorite visuals from the film are these sequences that kind of function like interstitials, of someone isolating a single frame of celluloid film featuring the next victim, and marking it--either scratching them out or circling them. It's just a great break from the action and tension.

The Audio: Good

This is a very solid audio transfer. I have a three-channel soundbar and at no point did I notice any issues; anything that took me fully out of the experience. There are, to be fair, moments where a bit of dialogue was obviously ADR'ed (Automatic Dialogue Replacement, meaning dropping in some dialogue recorded at a later date, usually because the necessary dialogue wasn't properly recorded or audible) but that's nothing unusual, given the era and genre.

Fun fact: aside from that one Depeche Mode song, the most interesting thing about the soundtrack is that it features seven songs written and performed by Jesse Frederick and Jeff Koz. Both men would go on to some acclaim in the television theme song realm, with Koz creating the song Faces of the Heart, which was the opening theme for General Hospital from 1993-2004. Frederick meanwhile wrote (with Bennett Salvay and show producer Jeff Franklin) and performed Everywhere You Look, the theme song to Full House. As a TGIF kid and a mid-to-late '90s soap opera viewer, it turns out BOTH of these songs are very familiar to me.

The Supplements: Excellent

The number one thing I look for in the bonus features for a physical release is: context. I like to be able to learn as much as I can about the situation(s) that a particular film was created in. In that regard, this release of The Last Horror Film is a home run and then some. There are three commentary tracks--two with (as he is described) "Joe Spinell's Best Friend", Luke Walter and one with Caroline Munro and film critic and Frightfest co-founder Alan Jones--and two illuminating interviews. Producer / co-writer Judd Hamilton's interview especially gave great insight into the film's origins, while Spinell's personal friend Sal Sirchia's interview is more about his relationship with Spinell during the last two years of Spinell's life.

There is also a ton of Troma-related material, so if you're unfamiliar with their whole deal and aesthetic, you'll definitely be more familiar after checking these out. I would like to draw special attention to the 5 minute feature Highlights from Tromadance (which is Troma's version of Sundance). The clip really highlights Troma's whole ethos of never giving up. Make your movie, your way; keep trying to get eyes on it; make it happen. I know Troma gets a lot of flak for their overall house style, and while I understand it (and could write an entire piece on the studio's evolving aesthetic), they're nothing if not inspirational.

• Commentary track with Joe Spinell's Best Friend Luke Walter
• Commentary track with Caroline Munro and Frightfest's Alan Jones
• New commentary track with Luke Walter
• Like a Father Figure: Sal Sirchia remembers Joe Spinell (21:11)
• My Last Horror Film Ever! Archival interview with producer Judd Hamilton (18:58)
• The Last Horror Film: New York and Cannes Locations (14:24) (HD)
• Mr. Robbie (a.k.a. Maniac II) (short film featuring Joe Spinell) (8:05) (SD)
• The Last Horror Film Trailers:
• Trailer 1 (as Fanatic) (0:32) (SD)
• Trailer 2 (as Fanatic) (0:31) (SD)
• Trailer 3 (0:58) (SD)
• Tromatic Extras:
• Highlights from Tromadance 2015 (5:21) (HD)
• The Return of Dolphin Man (4:48) (SD)
• Kabukiman's Cocktail Corner (9:44) (HD)
• Troma Trailers:
• Return to Nuke 'Em High - Vol. 1 (2013) (3:24)
• Return to Nuke 'Em High - Vol. 2 (2017) (1:49)
• The Toxic Avenger (1984) (3:32)
• Class of Nuke 'Em High (1986) (3:23)
• #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm (2020) (3:14)

One last thing I want to mention, and I've put it here because I guess it's sort of an unadvertised bonus feature(?), but when you start the movie, a brief intro (4:08) plays starring Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman. In it, he briefly talks up the film you're about to see before taking a pill that instantly changes his sex. He then hits the streets, playing into Troma's image as somewhat regressive, and deliberately provocative, before having Lloyd get told off by some guys (including Troma regular and former The Last Drive-In bandleader John Brennan!) who inform him that "It's 2015, dude. (Cross-dressing) is no big deal. Get over yourself!"

To be clear: after the introductory bit, none of this skit has anything to do with The Last Horror Movie, it's just Troma being Troma, and while it's a little clumsy and a little messy, the heart of the piece is in the right place. Just wanted to mention this because it comes out of nowhere and was an ...odd note to open on.

Final Thoughts: Highly Recommended

I'll always enjoy this variety of '80s slasher. They might not have a ton to say beyond the titillation, but not every ride at the amusement park can be The Hall of Presidents. Some are a rollercoaster, built purely for giddy thrills, cheap scares, and copious toplessness ...Okay, my analogy fell apart near the end there, but you get what I'm saying.

This is worth watching for Joe Spinell alone. The man is a particular kind of character actor / genre legend--he also appears in the first two Godfather and Rocky films, Sorcerer, and Taxi Driver for starters--and with any performer like that, I find watching them get to play the lead an endlessly entertaining use of my time. But beyond that, between the locations, the clever meta story, and the creative death scenes, The Last Horror Film offers a lot of entertainment for slasher fans.

HIM (2025) - Universal Pictures

HIM
Universal Pictures

Original Release Date Sept. 19th, 2025
Written by Skip Bronkie, Zack Akers, Justin Tipping
Directed by Justin Tipping
Starring Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers, Julia Fox, Tim Heidecker, Jim Jefferies
Language English, Spanish, and French; (subtitles available)

Buy it HERE from Orbit

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, MovieJawn Podcast Director and Staff Writer 

Overview:

HIM comes to 4K & Blu-ray from Universal. Directed by relative newcomer Justin Tipping, whose previous film Kicks (2016) caught the eye of Jordan Peele, the film is almost over-stuffed with style, symbolism, and themes. Universal's release of HIM features a fantastic video transfer and audio package with a deep bench of bonus features.

The Movie Itself: Excellent

Four stars for a football x horror movie might seem high at first glance. I will admit that the film is more of a conceptual experiment than some more narratively focused films. What does it take to become The Best at something? What are you willing to do to get there? These sorts of questions are more what HIM is concerned with than telling a more traditional story with more traditional obstacles and nemeses, and on first viewing, that shook me.

It was on a repeat viewing that the film began to gel. All the disparate elements, as well as the prevalence of style, all started to come together more for me and really began to work together, like a team. The commentary track with director Justin Tipping further elucidated the sheer amount of detail and levels the film is working on at all times. Which isn't to say that HIM can't be over-stimulating, at times coming off like an especially grizzly, psyche-assaulting Gatorade commercial, it's just that over time, I've learned to add "(complimentary)" to the end of that statement.

Story and style aside, HIM features an impressive lead performance from Tyriq Withers (as Cam) and an absolutely dynamite, career-redefining performance from Marlon Wayans. Withers' emotive eyes convey a depth of emotion from scene to scene, always acting as a grounding force; a calm (no pun intended) eye of the storm no matter how crazy events outside are, and trust me, they get plenty crazy. Wayans, meanwhile, is essentially giving the best hair-trigger psychopath performance of the decade?

Ultimately there's more about HIM to root for than against, and as was my experience, a second go-round was what it took to really click with it. If you dig on unusual horror movies, occult symbolism, Alejandro Jodorowsky-style visuals (seriously), top-tier villain performances, or the ethos of "God, Family, Football", you'd be remiss in letting HIM pass you by.

The Packaging: Good

The packaging here is just fine; no large complaints. The cover image, especially coming from a film with so much visual creativity, is a little underwhelming: Zay stands behind a seated Cam, with his hands on Cam's shoulders, showcasing Zay's impressive collection of championship rings, with the vague impression of stadium lights behind them.

The case is your standard, black snap-case. There's also a slip cover which recreates the same cover image described above. Like I said, nothing necessarily wrong with it, but I think it's underselling the film's visual language a little in the hopes of catching the eye of football & horror fans with less avant-garde tastes?

The Video: Excellent

As with my Bugonia 4K review, I'm giving this an 'Excellent' because maybe, somewhere out there in the cinematic cosmos, there's a film that looks inarguably better than this. Maybe. Regardless, HIM looks incredible. Color, as director Justin Tipping mentions during his commentary track, plays a major part within the film, as do things like the costuming and set design. Even more so than in your average film. This 4K presentation does all of these justice, allowing you to soak up every detail. Every drop of blood, sweat, and tears is perfectly preserved.

The lighting is very manicured in HIM, due in large part to the unusual locations where they filmed, but everything is incredibly well-balanced here. Similarly the effects shots look tremendous. There are repeated sequences shot with an infrared camera, and to say things have come a long way since Predator (1987)'s heat vision is a massive understatement.

The Audio: Excellent

My major takeaway, sonically, from HIM was how well-integrated the score is. There's an entire special feature based around how the score was created, and the ways in which it was utilized, and with that in mind, I paid special attention to it upon my rewatch. Beyond just conveying the tone and emotional content, the score is manipulated in almost meta-textual ways, like having it performed as though it were part of the music being heard within the film itself!

My three-channel soundbar might not be the fanciest set-up, but the Dolby Atmos made the most of it. Dialogue was clear, the music was powerful, the sports and training impacts all felt brutal, and the sheer size of some of the rooms was conveyed very well through the mix.

The Supplements: Excellent

I'm giving the bonus features here a very high score because there are a lot of them, and they are obviously well thought-out. Aside from a bunch of deleted scenes and an alternate ending, there are numerous making-of featurettes examining the film's themes, how certain scenes were constructed, the casting of Marlon Wayans, and as mentioned above, the work that went into scoring the film.

I also want to give a special shout-out to the commentary track with director Justin Tipping, which was full of even more insights. It also features my favorite trope of commentary tracks: when a filmmaker will point out a moment in the film that is obviously an effects shot, briefly claim they did that practically, and then admit they were kidding, ending with some version of "That's what we call Movie Magic." Like a toddler giggling at the 'got yer nose' gag, I laugh every time.

• Alternate Ending: "Zay's Nightmare" (2:13, HD)
• Deleted End Credits Scene: "Food of Freedom" (1:07, HD)
• Deleted Scenes (13:20, HD):
• "Cheers"
• "Don't Be a Mascot"
• "The Publicist"
• "Fantasy Football"
• "Cam's Discovery"
• Becoming Them (9:07, HD)
• The Sport of Filmmaking (10:10, HD)
• Anatomy of a Scene: "A Diabolical Game of Catch" (4:26, HD)
• Anatomy of a Scene: "Rebirth" (4:53, HD)
• Hymns of a Goat (4:36, HD)

Final Thoughts: Highly Recommended 

I watched HIM for the first time at the end of last year, and enjoyed it just fine, but felt like I just wasn't on the same wavelength as the film. I jumped at the chance to review this release because I really wanted the chance to re-examine it, and I was not disappointed. HIM is a film that I can see being a tall order for some people: narratively light, thematically and conceptually dense, and with some very difficult moments (to paraphrase Justin Tipping "In football, the body horror is build-in").

However, nothing about the film is superfluous. There are no cheap scares, no pointless violence. Everything serves the film by supporting the themes, which are asking some very interesting questions. Add to that the fantastic lead performances, and the jaw-dropping visuals, and HIM makes for a very satisfying addition to the under-represented Sports Horror genre.

WATCHLIST - October 2025

Welcome! Welcome! Welcome, to all my spooky boos and autumn aficionados! The season approaches on cloven hooves, so I'm putting together another Spooky Watchlist. I've been making these for a few years, originally just for myself and the folks I live with, but other pals kept asking to be included, so here we are. This year marks my second collab with MovieJawn, and you can and should read the first one HERE, because it was written to help folks who might otherwise feel overwhelmed by too many choices feel more at ease, and to make building their own month-long movie marathon less intimidating. So go read that one, then come back. I'll wait.

I will, however, reiterate my three main rules because they bear repeating:

Rule 1: Start with the easiest prompts first. Don't get hung up on one you're having trouble with, just come back to it.
Rule 2: There are no wrong answers. Make your selections however you want, and if you're "wrong" about a movie: who cares, as long as you had fun watching it.
Rule 3: The search bar is your friend. First, I hope we've all turned A.I. responses off (it's easy to do), but if you're having trouble coming up with a title, Letterboxd and to a lesser extent IMDb have plenty of themed lists for you to peruse for inspiration.

Now let's dive in. I've shared the image so you can copy it or print one out if you want to. Now I'm going to walk you through the prompts with some suggestions. We'll start with the ones that are extremely YOU-specific:

Free Streamies
    Tubi, Plex, and PlutoTV are all excellent and importantly FREE resources for films great and small,
    and I'm trying to reinforce the idea that you don't necessarily need to pay for all your entertainments,
    even if you're big into streaming. So fire up your free streamer of choice and find something that looks
    fun!
Physical Media
    Choose a film you currently own, or owned at one time, or want to own on VHS, DVD, Blu-ray or
    some other format.
Birth Year
    A movie released in your birth year, or the birth year of a loved one who'll be watching with you.
Studio Specific
    Pick a flick from a favorite studio if you have one - TriStar Pictures, Cannon Films, or Full Moon
    Entertainment leap readily to mind for me.
Homegrown
    A film made or set in or near your hometown, or wherever you might live now.
First Time Watch
    Select a movie you, or someone watching with you, has never seen.

For the rest of these prompts, I'll try to make at least one suggestion family friendly in case you've got kids who'll be watching with you or maybe you just don't love the scarier side of the season. Also, in light of the country's recent bout of xenophobic inhospitality, I'll be suggesting at least one film of non-American origin, if for no other reason than to better appreciate the global arts community.

Monster By Name
    A movie with 'monster' in the title - Monsters (2010), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Monster Seafood Wars
    (2020, Japan).
Monster By Nature
    A movie where the "monster" doesn't look like one - Psycho (1960), Monster House (2006), Hausu
    (1977, Japan).
Monster By Nurture
    A movie about what it takes to make a monster. It could be trauma, an evil spirit, a potion, a curse,
    alienation, anything at all - Evil Dead II (1987), Gremlins (1984), The Loved Ones (2009, Australia).

Blockbuster
    A film that was such a smash that it inspired numerous imitators - Alien (1979), E.T. the Extra-
    Terrestrial (1982), Godzilla (1954, Japan).
Mockbuster
    A film that's clearly inspired by something else - Life (2017), Masters of the Universe (1987), Bloody
    Muscle Body Builder in Hell (1995, Japan).

Horny
    Define this one however you're most comfortable: a film that's actively about being horny, or just one
    with a sexually-charged atmosphere, or perhaps one about The Devil or another famously horned
    character - Species (1995), Little Nicky (2000), Shivers (1975, Canada).
Costume Inspo
    Folks dress up as all kinds of non-spooky things from movies for Halloween, so watch a movie that's
    got good, non-spooky costume fodder - Police Academy (1984), Minions (2015), Ultraman (1966,
    Japan)
The Master of Suspense
    A film by or in the style of Alfred Hitchcock. On the plus side, a lot of Hitchcock is pretty all-ages
    friendly - What Lies Beneath (2000), The Birds (1963), Cobweb (2023, South Korea).
"Never D Your Own G"
    This phrase--coined the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast, Episode 131: Beneath the Darkness
    (2011)--means "Never dig your own grave", which is unquestionably good advice. Choose a movie
    with grave digging or a cemetery - Shallow Grave (1994), Army of Darkness (1992), Cemetery Man
    (1994, Italy).
Kid Favorites
    Could be a favorite from when you were a kid, or if you have kids it could one of their faves, or just a
    well-liked film made for kids - Teen Wolf (1985), The Addams Family (1991), Wallace and Gromit:
    The Curse of the Where Rabbit (2005, UK).
Summerween
    A good scare is an any time of year treat Jaws (1975), Tremors (1990), High Tension (2003, France).
Permission to Board
    Movies where someone uses an Ouija board or similar device - Ouija Shark (2020), 13 Ghosts (1960),
    Alison's Birthday (1981, Australia).
Season of the Witch
    Yes, there are a few films with this as a title and you could watch one of them, but this could be any
    witchy movie - Bell Book and Candle (1958), Supergirl (1984), Suspiria (1977, Italy).
A.I. Was Never a Good Idea
    "Artificial Intelligence" is heavy on the artificial part and extremely scarce on the intelligence. Always
    has been - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021), Ghost in the Shell
    (1995, Japan).
Monster Mashup
    Choose any film where more than one type of monster appears - Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Scooby-
    Doo (2002), Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man (1973, Mexico).
Weapon of Choice
    Decide on a movie where a distinctive weapon is used - Planet Terror (2007), Krull (1983), Shaun of
    the Dead (2004, UK).
Clowning Around
    Step right up and choose a circus or clown-centric genre film - Freaks (1932), Something Wicked This
    Way Comes (1983), Santa Sangre (1989, Italy).

1950s
    Pick a genre film from the decade that brought us Snoopy - Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954),
    Them! (1954), Diabolique (1955, France).
1960s
    Choose a genre film from the Free Love era - X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963), Mad Monster
    Party? (1967), Black Sabbath (1963, Italy).
1970s
    Select a genre film from the decade of Pong - Phantom of the Paradise (1974), The Phantom
    Tollbooth (1970), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971, UK).
1980s
    Decide upon a genre film from the age when Tiffany ruled the malls - Return of the Living Dead 
    (1985), Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Pin (1988, Canada).
1990s
    Opt for one genre film from the epoch of Crystal Pepsi - Anaconda (1997), Galaxy Quest (1999), I
    Bought a Vampire Motorcycle (1990, UK).
This Year
    Single out a genre film from 2025 - Sinners (2025), KPop Demon Hunters (2025), Bring Her Back
    (2025, Australia).

This penultimate prompt is designed to make things easier for you--think of it as a cheat code to help make your October viewing go even more smoothly.

Franchise Freebies!
    Basically, if you want to watch an entire franchise spread out over Oct., feel free to count some of the
    films in that series INSTEAD of any prompts you're having trouble with. Can't think of a Monster By
    Nurture film you wanna watch, or not that interested in a movie from the '70s? Watch some of the
    Saw films instead. But all your substitutes must be from the SAME franchise, and they must be
    watched IN ORDER.

This last prompt is the ONLY one I think is date-specific:

All Hallows Eve
    On the 31st, watch a really "Halloweenie" movie - Murder Party (2007), It's the Great Pumpkin
    Charlie Brown (1966), The Wicker Man (1973, UK).

Feel free to build your watchlist in whatever order you want, by the way, and remember: the spooky season isn't just for horror. There are plenty of other genres that fit right in: sci-fi, martial arts, super heroes, fantasy, whodunnit, kaiju, etc. Best of luck, I hope you have fun. 

I cohost the Hate Watch/Great Watch Podcast and we've covered some of the films mentioned above, if you're interested:

• Episode 11: Shaun of the Dead (2004)
• Episode 28: Hausu (1977)
• Episode 110: Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
• Episode 111: Cemetery Man (1994)
• Episode 118: Bell Book and Candle (1958)
• Episode 131: Beneath the Darkness (2011)
• Episode 140: Alison's Birthday (1981)
• Episode 155: Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
• Episode 159: Jaws (1975)
• Episode 168: Supergirl (1984)

Share your progress with #SpookyJawnList on your social media of choice, and as always - Long Live the Movies!

"Without memory, there can be no retribution" : POPCORN (1991) and How the Past Informs the Horror Genre

"Without Memory, There Can Be No Retribution" :
Popcorn (1991) and How the Past Informs the Horror Genre 

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor and podcast czar

Popcorn (1991) is a love letter to the horror genre on both textual and metatextual levels. The plot involves an all night horror-thon, the setting is a classic movie house scheduled for demolition, and the killer utilizes movie magic to do his nasty work. But there’s a deeper appreciation for horror’s history on display as well.

Aspiring filmmaker Maggie (Jill Schoelen) and her pals put on the horror-thon to raise money for their high school film department. With the help of film historian Dr. Mnesyne (Ray Walston), they're screening three (fake) classic cult b-movies that all have their own gimmicks. The giant mutant bug attack film Mosquito is being presented in project-o-vision (which means a huge remote controlled mosquito on wires will fly out above the audience at key moments), something called The Stench presented in aroma-rama (where packets of powder are dissolved in water and the resulting scented fog is filtered into the theater), and The Amazing Electrified Man about a death row inmate who survives the electric chair, presented in shock-o-scope (where the theater seats are electrified in order to give shocks to the audience).

This being the Slashers issue of MovieJawn, there are obviously some murders afoot! A short film called Possessor is found mixed in with the film spools and gimmick materials, and screened shortly thereafter. The short is surreal, and bears resemblance to some spooky dreams Maggie has been having, and once the horror-thon kicks off, she begins to think that the man from Possessor is haunting the theater, killing her friends off one by one! The man operating the RC mosquito gets impaled on its huge proboscis; the guy operating the shock-o-scope board is tied to his seat and terminally zapped; one of the kids is locked in a bathroom stall and gassed with toxic aroma-rama pellets (why he doesn't just flush I'll never know) and the audience is in danger of meeting the same fate.

Popcorn taps into a reverence for the past that runs through a lot of the horror genre, while also paying homage to William Castle, one of the greatest carnies to ever work in film. Without going into too much detail, some of the gimmicks in this directly correlate to some of Castle's ideas to drum up audience interest. Look up Castle's films The House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, 13 Ghosts, Macabre, Mr. Sardonicus, Homicidal, and probably others - and their associated promotional tricks, if you're unfamiliar. They're very fun. You'll thank me.

Beyond that, horror has a rich history of paying homage to what's come before. Things like meta-casting genre mainstays, naming characters after actors or directors from earlier eras, to giving small shout-outs within the films. For instance, there's a torn poster for Wes Craven's The Hills Have Eyes (1977) in the basement of the cabin in Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead (1981). Craven responded by having the character Glen (Johnny Depp) watching The Evil Dead on TV before being killed in an appropriately Evil Dead-y, messy fashion by Freddy Kruger in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Raimi then had a replica of Freddy's glove hanging above the doorway of the cabin in Evil Dead II (1987).

Sometimes these nods are shout outs, broadcasting a love and respect for an inspirational work. Sometimes they're call outs, telling audiences "If you thought that was scary, wait until you see this". Sometimes they hint at some shared horror DNA that audiences might not be instinctually aware of. In John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) for instance, the kids are watching The Thing From Another World (1951) on TV at one point, underlying the it-could-be-anyone paranoia of his film's masked killer.

By adopting parodies of William Castle -style gimmicks onto pastiches of '50s and '60s cheapie b-movies, the filmmakers are more than just tipping their hat to film history. Mosquito, The Amazing Electrified Man, and The Stench aren't purely wallpaper for the events of the film. The promotional gags and equipment are what is used to rack up the majority of the film's bodycount. Popcorn is saying in no uncertain terms, that these ideas, these genres, these concepts, though having fallen out of fashion, are still valid. Still vibrant. Still killers.

I've been a big fan of Popcorn since I first saw it (only a few years ago!) because, on top of being a fun and lively flick, I enthusiastically agree. Too many filmmakers seem to drop references in their work more as a sign of their own bona fides, designed to say more about how cool or knowledgable the filmmaker is than to say anything about the works they're nested into. But horror history is jam packed with great ideas worth interrogating, and concepts worth dragging into the light in front of new eyes. As Toby (Tom Villard) says in Popcorn: “Without memory, there can be no retribution”, which I interpret as horror’s version of “Those who don’t learn from the past are doomed to repeat it”. Someone has to show the audiences everything they’ve been missing.

WATCHLIST - October 2024

October Watchlist 2024
A no-pressure walk through of an artisanal viewing experience

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor, podcast czar, HWGW cohost

I love Halloween. Always have. I know, I'm not special. Most chain stores and companies start rolling out their Halloween offerings months in advance. But it feels false. It feels more like Hollow-een, if you catch my drift. It lacks the personal, home-spun touch of decorating that I remember from when I was a kid. Despite everyone living in the same neighborhood, every house had different decorations; a different aesthetic. It felt special.

In an effort to bring a little of the specialness back to the season, a few years ago I started composing watchlists. I'd pull out my trusty cauldron (smartphone), add a few eyes of newt (fair use photos and fonts), say "Double, double, toil and trouble" (spend a week brainstorming) and the result is a collection of film prompts - one for each day of October.

And I'm sharing this year's with YOU! Alakazam! (*)

(*) If you're a MovieJawn subscriber, a physical copy of the prompts list will be included in your Fall Zine, which you should be receiving shortly if you haven't already.

These watchlists began as a way to unite my house at the time (myself, my partner, and two roommates) with a sort of Family Movie Night, by giving everyone the chance to pick some titles for the month. As it turns out, some people I've shared these with over the years felt overwhelmed by being presented with so many open-ended choices, so in an effort to take some of the pressure off, allow me to walk you through exactly how low-pressure it is to choose titles for your very own, month-long film series!

First of all, if anything seems TOO open-ended for the moment, just come back to it later; start with the ones that are easiest for you to fill in. Remember, this is YOUR watchlist we're making, I've just given you the framework.

Secondly, there are NO wrong answers. There are no rules here. You can choose all films you've seen, or all first-time watches. If you choose a movie to fit a prompt - let's just use Oct. 1st: ROMANCE - and you've never seen it, or you remembered it differently, and it turns out you were wrong and there's no romance in it at all: Who cares? No harm, no foul.

Third: the search bar is your friend. Need some suggestions for FOOD? Typing "spooky food movies" brought up at least a dozen good suggestions from all across the horror spectrum. Need to know movies from a specific country or era? May I suggest signing up for a free Letterboxd account? You can sort films really easily there (also you can follow me @DrHBus and like every single one of my reviews).

Let's walk through the prompts, shall we? First off we have the wide-open ones: the decades ('50S - 2010S), B+W (black and white), REMAKE, and the international selections. These should be the easiest to cross off your list because you have so many options. Just pick a couple. And remember: no wrong answers! For '70S, you could choose a movie made in the 1970s like Halloween (1978) or you could pick Fear Street: 1978 (2021) which is set in that decade. Same goes for the international titles, they could be films that come from those countries, or they could take place there. Also, if you happen to live in Europe, Asia, or any Spanish-speaking country, feel free to sub in a different country. May I suggest Canada? Lot of good flicks originate up there.

Some people get in their head about what "should" or "can" go on their watchlist. Anything you want! Like SPACE for example. If, like me, you find 2013's Gravity to be an absolutely terrifying viewing experience (no joke; I had a full-on panic attack in that theater, hahaha), then that can be your SPACE movie. Or you can go with Aliens (1986), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), or Leprechaun 4 (1996). Your opinion of a movie is kind of all that matters. To that end GREAT TITLE, and SEXY should be no problem. Whether you think The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) is the be-all end-all of movie titles, or you think Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh (1991) is: You Are Right! If you pick Species (1995) for SEXY because it's all about sex and breeding, or you pick the Fright Night remake from 2011 because Colin Farrell really revs your motor, both are equally valid choices.

The genre-centric ones are a piece of cake: ROMANCE, HISTORICAL, MUSICAL - those are easy enough. Just keep in mind, these things are defined however you decide they are. You can watch Shaun of the Dead (2004) as a musical because there are so many music-related moments in it. DAYLIGHT HORROR is any movie that has scary scenes during the day, FOLK HORROR is anything with that pastoral, cut-off from the modern world vibe, and NOT HORROR is anything that's still spooky season appropriate, but not a horror movie: It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) comes to mind.

It's all free association. FOOD could be The Silence of the Lambs (1991) because we're all food to Hannibal the Cannibal; SONS + DAUGHTERS can be any movie where the family unit is threatened or upended, maybe The Faculty (1998) or Children of the Corn (1984). Don't stress about it. No one is going to come to your house and revoke your Movie Enjoyer card.

If the FRANCHISE ones seem intimidating, keep in mind that they don't have to be from the same series. You could only watch IT: Chapter One (2017) because it's technically a 2-part franchise but the 2nd one is garbage (don't @ me). Most franchises have at least three entries, so SEQUEL and THIRD shouldn't be too hard to assign titles for, I honestly don't even see 4TH being a huge roadblock, and FINAL can just be the final film in a franchise, or one of many films with "Final" in the title.

Now, there are a few prompts that I can imagine might throw a couple of people. What constitutes a LOW BUDGET? Well, if nothing jumps readily to mind, use the MST3k rule: if Mystery Science Theater 3000 has ever done an episode on it, that's probably right in the sweet spot. PICK A NUMBER can be any film with a numerical title. Heck, you could get a little meta, actually make a list of titles, and roll some dice to pick on that night. I just came up with that right now! See how easy this is?

ALL HALLOW'S EVE is my "free space". This is any damn thing you just LOVE watching on Halloween!

This October on my podcast Hate Watch/Great Watch, we're doing ALL vampire movies, so to show you an example of a completed watchlist, here's a hypothetical Vamp-tober watchlist:

The only ones I got tricksy with here were maybe The Apple for MUSICAL (it's definitely a musical, but really only briefly features a vampire. Though we are assured it's an "actual, actual, actual, vampiiiiiire!") and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Parts 1+2 for FINAL. In my mind, since they're one movie split into two parts, they count as one. Lost Boys might confuse some folks as my pick for FRANCHISE, but it may surprise you to know there were a few direct-to-dvd style sequels called The Tribe (2008) and The Thirst (2010). Fun Fact.

HWGW drop new episodes every other Wednesday, which means three episodes in October this year! Jugular Wine: A Vampire Odyssey (1994) for the prompt LOW BUDGET, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) for REMAKE, and a little film called Love Bites (1988) for SEXY. I imagine Herzog's Nosferatu might be streaming, but the other two I doubt will be. Fear not! You can just listen to our discussions of those films and decide if they're worth the time/money/effort to track down and watch for yourself.

And speaking of time and effort: I'm including a blank watchlist below for you to download, so you can fill in the titles on your own! If you end up making your own watchlist using this year's prompts, let us know! Share my prompts list and your selection of titles on social media with #spookyjawn and remember to tag @DrHBus, @MovieJawn & @HWGWpodcast anywhere applicable.

I hope this October finds you well, and that this watchlist makes your spooky season even more enjoyable. Long Live the Movies!

"THE OUTWATERS" (2022)

The Outwaters
Directed & written by Robbie Banfitch
Starring Robbie Banfitch, Angela Basolis, Scott Schamell, Michelle May
Currently unrated
Runtime 1 hour, 40 minutes

“The Outwaters shows that Found Footage is the Haiku of Horror Filmmaking”

By Allison Yakulis & Hunter Bush

Hunter Bush: Filmmakers are always fighting against limitations. Sometimes it’s an idea that can’t be realized, sometimes it’s having a very slim budget, sometimes it’s just scheduling constraints. Regardless, they’re all roadblocks between a filmmaker and their ideal finished project. Creative filmmakers find ways to not just work around their limitations, but to work with them; use these hurdles to their advantage.

Found footage, as a genre, works within limitations. You don’t need professional gear, actors, or cinematography. The almost user-generated nature of the conceit also allows for narrative gaps that can help with pacing and budget. Even still, within the sub genre of found footage, some films are more inventive or innovative than others. With The Outwaters, writer/director/star Robbie Banfitch may have used the limitations of a young filmmaker more creatively than any other example I can call to mind.

Allison Yakulis: To me, found footage is a genre fraught with mediocre efforts. It has enough structure to delineate it as its own genre, is cheap enough that anyone with access to any sort of camera can film in this style, and when actually done well is considered a triumph in monetizing art as it is, again, cheap and accessible to produce. Of course, when it’s done poorly there’s a lot of shaky camera, often in the dark, to hide seams and give the appearance of a novice photographer, and in some of the most egregious instances it breaks the “rules” and depicts sequences that no camera handheld or otherwise could’ve picked up. Found footage is the haiku of horror filmmaking: beautiful in its simplicity when well-executed, but too frequently lackluster or incoherent due in large part to the perception that anybody can do it.

Overall I enjoyed The Outwaters. In fact, I would argue it’s in the top of its genre, on par with films like The Blair Witch Project (1999), Cloverfield (2008), and Host (2020). When this film hits, it hits hard and cuts deep. Is it a perfect film? No, it’s laggy in parts of the third act with a few nighttime sequences that are too dark and chaotic to glean a meaningful understanding of what is actually going on. In these moments it started to lose me as a viewer. Banfitch carefully arranges his setting, characters, goals, and scope, but when given a slow burn setup I expect a splashy, manic ending. An impartial editing for pace would give the drop-at-the-end-of-the-rollercoaster feeling, rather than the emotional whiplash I felt.

There are moments in this movie that are so arresting, so wickedly gleeful that it’s going to stick with me for years, I can feel it already. 

HB: The basic premise of The Outwaters, just so that we’re all on the same page, is that four friends go into the Mojave desert to film a music video: aspiring director Robbie (Banfitch), his brother Scott (Scott Schamell) who will function as an assistant, hair & makeup stylist Ange (Angela Basolis), and Michelle (Michelle May) the video’s star. Michelle is a singer, and the quartet’s plan is to just film a bunch of beautiful footage of a glamorous looking Michelle in the natural splendor of the Mojave.

Low budget found footage can get a little repetitive, right? There’s usually only a few locations, because they’re shooting on the cheap. Outwaters almost suffers from this but, for my mileage, every time we repeated a gag or location, Banfitch at least tried to make it feel different. The flick is divided up into three memory cards recovered after the film’s events, and things build in a very by-the-book manner. The first card is all preliminaries; getting to know the characters and how they interact. Card two is getting to the desert, filming a music video, and some spookiness that’s light enough to be laughed off the next day. Card three is not just the most concentrated supernatural madness, but it keeps changing; recontextualizing what I thought was going on. To be clear, what I mean is not just what my guesses were for what the movie was, but actually changing what I thought things I had already seen meant.

Early on, having only seen the trailer (which to be fair is mostly darkness, blood and yelling), after the characters find a fire ax stuck into the crest of a low hill, I figured that I was settling in for a The Hills Have Eyes type survival horror. That was a guess and it was wrong. That’s not what I’m talking about. The reliance on darkness (full dark, no stars; absolute blackness) means your mind’s eye is taking fragments of shapes glimpsed in a flashlight beam and trying to use the sonic information being presented (footfalls, scraping across the desert floor, yelling, panting, *noises*, etc) to form an image of what might be happening. Then something else would happen that would change all those mental images. This third act basically functions as that parable of the blind men and the elephant, which I think is fascinating. I won’t go into specifics I guess because The Outwaters should be experienced with the least foreknowledge possible. 

AY: Hunter had also mentioned in our discussions that the conceit of filming a music video allows for more artistic flairs than many other found footage-type films. When you make one of your characters a filmmaker or cinematographer, that can be a really smart move to allow some nice, attractive, old-school camera use to establish setting and dole out some eye-candy before things get weird and shaky. He noticed it, and yes, I really dug that too. It not only fleshes out a character but it gives these early sequences an excuse to be fun and beautiful and light and arresting, improving the overall visual quality of the film and providing a nice counterpoint to the darkness and gore in the latter half.

Tropes or pitfalls, you decide. It’s these very things that take me out of other found footage films that The Outwaters generally executes or subverts pretty well. It makes a lot of smart choices, selecting a beautiful location that photographs excellently and feels remote, going for practical effects and sharp editing, often using suggestion and indirect shooting to let your imagination do the heavy lifting.

How do you feel about found footage as a genre? Do you prefer it steeped in realism? A way to tell a story creatively and within a rigid framework? Or do you find it a difficult style to work within/enjoy as a viewer?

HB: What Allison said about Found Footage being the Haiku of Horror Filmmaking is absolutely spot-on. With The Outwaters, if you get too hung up on the narrative you’d be missing the point. Robbie Banfitch has crafted something that seems very simple, but he’s gotten every ounce of impact from it. What it might lack for you in traditional logic it more than makes up for as a masterwork of form. It truly shows that with enough creativity and sheer will, you can manage fantastic things even when working within constraints.

AY: I think Hunter and I both recommend this movie and I agree that it should be viewed without knowing specifics - it is at its best and most fun when it blindsides you. I think where our feelings diverge is in this third act. I was anticipating similar clarity as in earlier sequences and felt restless when presented with lots of sound and little picture (the lagginess I mentioned earlier) - I didn’t have enough suggestion as to what was going on so these parts started to lose me rather than sharpen my nerves. Yet they would be interspersed with enough weirdness or clear daylight views or, yes, references to earlier locations or events that I could reorient myself into what was still a very surreal “distemporal” narrative; in fact, it really stuck the landing for me and I walked out happy at the end. In summation I think our feelings differ as to whether The Outwaters is a credit to, or the exception in, its horror subgenre.

The Outwaters should be available on Screambox in January 2023, after a limited theatrical run.

Fantasia Festival 2020 Review - "SANZARU" (2020)

FANTASIA FEST 2020 COVERAGE:
SANZARU (2020)
Written and directed by Xia Magnus
Starring Aina Dumlao, Justin Arnold, Jon Viktor Corpuz, Jayne Taini
Running time 1 hour and 40 minutes
Currently unrated, but contains mild gore, adult themes and brief ghostly nudity



"Sanzaru" is the collective name for the See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil monkeys (who each traditionally have their own names btw). I avoided looking this up until after watching the film for fear of accidentally spoiling a major element of Xia Magnus' sweaty, southern, spookhouse flick. As it is, knowing the meaning spoils none of the plot but exposes some of the themes I thought were most interesting in the film, specifically communication.

"MOTHER LEGS" by Ty Greenwood

MOTHER LEGS
Written by Ty Greenwood
Published by HellBound Books

Book review by Hunter Bush

I hate spiders, gang. I don't have any specific genesis moment for this aversion. I'm fairly sure it started before I ever saw Arachnophobia (1990) but that... didn't help. As I've grown I've gotten used to them somewhat - and as a taller person I'm frequently the one tasked to capture them - but I've also learned quite a lot about them. Perhaps it's the same impulse that draws me to horror as a genre, that innate desire to approach what scares me, or maybe it's as simple as a desire to know my enemy? Regardless, I've read a lot about spiders. For instance, did you know that Philadelphia, where I live, is the only place you can find the Pennsylvania purseweb spider? To be fair, this information also falls into the category of "Interesting Philadelphia Trivia" which is another big one for me, but my point remains: I know from spiders. And one thing I can tell you is - spiders do not blink.

""Riches to the Conjuror"

"Riches to the Conjuror" :

How a Viewpoint Sleight-of-Hand Yields a Wealth of New Perspective on the Destruction of a Model Family

An alternative POV on 2018's Hereditary.

Ari Aster's recent sophomore feature Midsommar has been a big deal in film talk circles recently, but his previous film, last year's Hereditary, is what put him on most people's radar. A film dealing with family and grief (Aster's topics of choice) through the supernatural chicanery of a witchy cult, Hereditary is most definitely when all's said and done, a Bad Moms Movie. What I posit today is that there is a way to view the events depicted in the film that makes it, somehow, an Even Worse Moms Movie.

Also, heads up, I will have to outright RUIN Hereditary for you if you haven't seen it.

"Halloween (2018)"

Is it weird to tell you I got emotional during Halloween 2018? Well I did. My eyes welled up during the finale, watching the culmination of a 40-year battle with evil reach its close. Seeing how the story of Laurie Strode and Michael Myers finally ends... for now. Because, let's be real: this won't be the last Halloween movie. By hook or by crook, there will be more but that knowledge shouldn't diminish your enjoyment of any of them.

As with all movies, the movie itself should be taken on its own merit as much as possible, and on its own merit, Halloween 2018 is a story about the cost of surviving.

"Truth Or Dare (2018)"

——————————————————————————————————
The following is my review of Truth Or Dare, written for MOVIEJAWN.
This is my unedited version, so any spelling or grammatical errors are my own.
Plus, I image-searched up some pictures for added pizzazz.
——————————————————————————————————

Without spoiling the ending, Blumhouse's Truth Or Dare blows the opportunity to have a series of movies where a Demon corrupts kids' games to make them deadly. Just imagine 2020's Duck, Duck, Goose, where a possessed teen is transformed into a horrendous cygnine creature, honking through a bloody bill full of sharp teeth or 2023's Red Rover, whose poster shows a line of battleworn 20-somethings with interlocked arms holding kitchen knives and meat cleavers.

Alas, it is not to be...