Happy Halloween!!
It's that spooktastic time of year when I offer a little overview of the creepy movies I've seen this year for anyone hoping to supplement their haunted holiday!
Consistent with Halloween Sampler protocol, movies will be rated with both my usual 1 - 5 rating scale and the scary/intense rating system of 1 - 5 exclamation points (e.g., ! = not at all scary, !!!!! = so scary!).
Chauvinists beware: by honest coincidence, all except one of this year's selections are influenced by my feminist rage. Just fyi.
Commence!
"Amanda Knox" (2016)
Rating: 4 Scary Rating: !!!
The film opens with the unsettlingly cold and vacant-seeming gaze of its titular figure, making the audience immediately ill at ease and seemingly confirming the ghoulish aura surrounding her. The movie nevertheless then succeeds in weaving a thoughtful tapestry of narratives that coalesces into a pretty alarming picture of a series of dramatic (mis)trials by court and media.
Part of what earned the movie its scary rating is the lingering impression it created of the dangers of men in positions of power who fail to understand their own deeply internalized misogyny. Definitely scary!
"Westworld" (1973)
Rating: 3 Scary Rating: !!
One of two throw-backy entries this year!
"Westworld" is fun in a goofy and campy way. It's also fun in a clear-Crichton-precursor-to-"Jurassic Park"-just-minus-the-dinosaurs-and-plus-Yul-Brynner way. It's got a decent amount of tension and anxiety to it, but it's by no means overwhelmingly terrifying. I would recommend it as a fun exploit into 70s thrillers, but even more so as a primer for HBO's AMAZING new series of the same name, which the movie inspired.
GUYS SERIOUSLY WATCH "WESTWORLD" I CAN'T STOP TALKING ABOUT IT.
"Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem" (2014)
Rating: 4 Scary Rating: !!!!
This year's you-wouldn't-expect-this-movie-to-be-scary-and-yet-it-is-TERRIFYING entry!
"Gett" documents the years-long process an Israeli woman must go through to secure a religious divorce from her cruelly stubborn estranged husband. The entire film unfolds without ever leaving the court in which Viviane, played with gorgeous subtlety punctuated by moments of gut-wrenching desperation by Ronit Elkabetz, doggedly pursues freedom from a suffocating marriage. She endures legally mandated humiliation at the hands of male judges, relatives, and acquaintances alike who persistently undervalue her time, belittle her suffering, hold her up to intolerable scrutiny, and undermine her agency. The terror this film instills is therefore 100% terror of the patriarchy.
"Blow Out" (1981)
Rating: 1 Scary Rating: !!!
Our second throw-backy entry this year!
Real talk: I found this movie to be pretty terrible. It pretty blatantly exploits the Ted Kennedy Chappaquiddick incident, includes some perhaps predictably not-great John Travolta acting, and feels abrasively wanton in its victimization of its female lead, played by Nancy Allen. That latter point is kind of the point of the film, I guess--it attempts to skewer our societal lust for female suffering-induced titilation. This may just be a product of the movie's age, but it falls flat in this endeavor. "Blow Out" nevertheless manages to sustain a persistently sense of dread and tension, so at least there's that.
"The Witch" (2015)
Rating: 5 Scary Rating: !!!!!
As a significant tonal shift from our last selection, I REALLY loved this movie. It's beautifully shot, moodily atmospheric, wonderfully acted, and has an awesome sticks-with-you ending. The film is skillfully carried by Anya Taylor-Joy in what is hopefully an early career-making role.
Delightfully, "The Witch" is seriously scary. I am slightly embarrassed to admit that this is one of the rare movies I researched before seeing because I was worried it would be too intense. Having an inside scoop definitely helped me feel ready for it, but didn't undermine how enjoyably frightening a film this is. I highly recommend it!
And with that: I hope you have an excellent Halloween, dear readers!
{Heart}
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