Thirty One Days of Horror: Day One and Two

Once again I've decided to take part in 31 Days/Nights of Horror, where I watch a horror movie that I've never seen before every day in October. Now I attempted this last year but due to work being horrible I had to drop out about a third of the way in. Thats not going to be a problem this time. So lets get into it!

Day One: Funny Games (1997)

Michael Henke wanted to make a statement with this one, I'm just not sure what it was. He made a home invasion film, normally one of the more indulgent sub-genres of horror, then didn't show any violence. He didn't show any exploitation. When one character is killed we focused on a man making a sandwich. He also peppered it with fourth wall breaking commentary as one of the invaders continuously spoke to the audience about what they were watching.

Seen here, literally winking at the camera.

And overall I don't think that it worked. The audience for a movie like this is looking for the visceral thrills found in the movie, from the violence that we don't see to the satisfaction of seeing evil punished at the end, which doesn't happen at all in this. I think that Cabin in the Woods did a better job of exploring peoples fascination with brutality and making statements about the emptiness of it, and it still functions extremely well as a horror movie. This sets up all sorts of audience expectations then leaves them laying on the floor and tells us we're bad people for it too. It doesn't function as a horror movie, it doesn't function as a drama. It seems to come up short in every direction.

I will say that the ten minute long single take scene in the movie is fantastic. As is the performance by Susanne Lothar. If there's any reason to watch this movie it's to see her perfect rendition of pain and loss.

Day Two: The Possesion

This one is a little more by the numbers. A little girl gets a wooden box at a yard sale and it turns out its got a demon in it. Hijinks ensue. There's a moment in this movie where you can tell the writers decided to say "Fuck it" to subtlety. We change gears immediately from the girl acting a bit off to blood pouring from one of her teachers eyeballs till she throws herself out of a window. Now I know exactly how hard the transition from acting odd to demonically possessed is thanks to my work on Lucifer's Unholy Desire. Part of me wishes that we had just said fuck it instead of trying to play it straight. Here once they jump that hurdle they do give us some great special effects. The fingers escaping the throat shot was awesome, as well as the moths entering the girl under the streetlight.

On a side note I mainly watched this one for Jeffery Dean Morgan

Also known as pudgy Robert Downey Jr.

I'm sure you've got them. Actors that you enjoy but never seem to break through, or even be in a movie that's best descriptor is fun? Jeffery Dean Morgan is one of those for me. If he shows up I've got a solid +10% interest in the movie but I know they're not going to knock anything out of the park.