We have decided to do something a little different, this time: A single film analysis. We look back at one of our favorite independent horror films of the last 20 years: The House of the Devil (2009), by Director Ti West. It’s a near-perfect exercise in horror story development and execution, and you can hear our rationale in this bonus podcast episode!
Happy New Year Scariest Friends! The Scariest Things has now banked FOUR YEARS of podcasts and reviews, and despite a world-wide pandemic, we were able to see a lot of good movies and share our impressions with our ever growing fan base. It’s a good time to thank everybody who has checked in with us over the year. The new Golden Age of horror continues on, unabated, and we look forward to sharing with you a fantastic 2022!
We Horror fans are an odd lot. We actively seek emotional sensations that make us uncomfortable, agitated, and if done well, terrified. To say that we are adrenaline junkies testing our courage is an easy way out, and doesn’t really get to the truth of things. Ashley Hirusina, a graphic artist managed in one poster, a deep but succinct analysis of why we seek the scary.
Hey! Watch where you’re sticking that thing! Do you believe in UFO’s? Do you think of aliens from outer space with fascination… or dread? Sometimes the aliens look like Alf. Sometimes they look like little green men (and later… little grey men). Some come for peace, and some come to carry us off the earth for experiments of the most awful kind. We will be talking about the latter! Enjoy Episode 136: UFO Horror!
The Horror Potluck is back! What is the potluck? It’s when each of the podcasters brings a movie to the recording session and we all discuss a movie that the others selected. This time, each of us picked just one movie that we thought had a compelling reason to spend additional time dissecting. The movies we picked are: Baskin, Halloween Kills, and Tourist Trap, each of them worthy of a longer look for uniquely different reasons.
Mysterious sightings and local folklore have pushed curious crypto hunters into the woods and onto deep lakes to reveal the truth. Maybe, just maybe, that local legend will show itself to you. In horror movies, they are true, and they will WRECK you. The Scariest Things talks about some of our favorite cryptid creepies in Episode 134.
Once upon a time… horror was something you learned from your grandmother or the tribal elder. It is ancient horror by way of magic and myth, bolstered by the shared beliefs of a culture. This sub-genre is open to a broad range of interpretations and can be somewhat hard to pin down for definition. Leave it to the Scariest Things who were not afraid to give our own takes on what Folkloric horror is all about.
The Scariest Things loves its short horror films, and we had the privilege to talk with director Tim Shechmeister who gave us our favorite horror short from the extensive roster of great shorts that played at the Portland Horror Film Festival. Check out an exclusive release of Hello? right here in this post!
One hundred thirty episodes in and we’re finally getting to what has to be what most horror fans identify as the iconic horror trope of all time: the masked killer! Well fret no longer horror fans, we are coming to one of the cornerstones of the genre. You start with Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface, but we’ll get you to the next level in episode 130!
Shall we play a GAME? For some of the brainiest horror movies, go to the tradition of tricks and traps horror. The punishment for not figuring out how to win the game is often painful and deadly. And face it, you watch reality TV shows to see people get eliminated, right? This horror sub-trope takes that idea to the next bloody level.
Just off of a buzz generating debut at the Tribeca Film Festival, the trailer for Sean King O’Grady’s feature film […]
Skittering. Scuttling. Swarming. And sometimes… crushing. For millions of people, their greatest fears come with six or eight legs. Yipes! Is something crawling up my leg? AAAAAIIIIEEEE!
★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
The ultimate road rage movie that collides with a nail-biting home invasion film. This Dutch film absolutely pours the intensity on in a way unseen in many a year. A rude and headstrong man picks the wrong enemy in a highway tailgating incident, subjecting his entire family to the revenge of a nuanced killer who uses rat poison as his weapon of choice.
Buona sera! If you like your horror with a large slice of salacious, then look to the Italians and their bloody thriller tradition of Giallo. Where to start? Let the Scariest Things point you the way to a bloody good time.
The best way for you to learn about Horror Films is to read and listen to The Scariest Things. The next best thing to do is to watch a Horror Documentary. You will find a documentary that aligns with your favorite horror tropes. Giallo? Check! Grindhouse? Check! Classic Universal Monsters? That too. In Episode 125, the Scariest Things team reveals nine movies that will increase your knowledge and love of the genre.
For a pantheon inhabiting monster, it is odd that a good Mummy movie a rarity. Unlike werewolves and vampires, Mummies got stuck in a same-story trope vortex of sameness. Fear not, though, The Scariest Things has found some buried treasures for you!
The Scariest Things sat down for a fun and lively discussion with director Ryan Barton-Grimley to break down his raucous horror-comedy Hawk and Rev: Vampire Slayers, one of our favorite movies from 2020.
It’s time to celebrate the best of horror from 2020, with the third annual Thingy Awards! Once again, we summoned a jury of expert horror aficionados to determine the worthy winners from a pool of great (if perhaps under-seen) scary movies. Raise the curtain and let’s hand out some awards!
Happy Mothers Day! The archives of horror films are filled with great matriarchs. It’s the strongest, and often the most important relationship of our lives, and the horror genre takes full advantage of all the emotional triggers of all things mommy.
Howdy partner! The western expanse is big and full of terrors. I’d be careful out there if I were you. A man can go missing out there right quick if you’re not careful. The Scariest Things heads west along the trail of much bloodletting as we examine Horror Westerns in Episode 121.
Sometimes when you find a film, you connect with it. And sometimes when you write about this film connection, the director of the film wants to share his love of creating the film with you. Such was the case with Michael Lovan, and his film, Murder Bury Win, and he sat down to discuss all things about this firecracker of a movie with The Scariest Things.
One of the big features released in the SXSW film festival Midnighter selections was Travis Steven’s sophomore feature effort, Jakob’s Wife, starring Barbara Crampton and Larry Fessenden. It was a wonderful character study of a middle-aged woman finding the most unusual (and bloody) way to break out of a mid-life crisis. The Scariest Things got a chance to break down this remarkable film with Travis.
South by Southwest (SXSW), the biggest arts and culture festival in the US had a fully virtual presentation in March. Mike and Eric take a moment to discuss the Midnighter Films presented at the big Austin streaming showcase.
For those of you who pay attention to Roman Numerals, you might have figured out that we got a little out of sequence. Yep, we skipped Episode 119 in our excitement to record HEAVY METAL HORROR. But that does not diminish our anticipation for the offerings for 2021. We’ve got our prognostications we’re never (read: surprisingly often) wrong!
Put on your best spandex, studded leather straps, and break out the hairspray. It’s time for Heavy Metal Horror! Your professors for this episode are Mike and Liz, true metalheads both, as Eric plays the role of the general population of metal familiar, but not metal saturated fandom.
IIn a truly awful year, we just didn’t get a whole lot of movies released, reducing the pool of the bad movies as well as the good movies. If you were going to describe the years less than stellar movies, I think you’d say they were disappointing rather than infuriating. But there’s still plenty for us to throw shade at in this episode. The Scariest Things gets our adrenaline up, discussing our worst films of 2020.
Do you like your horror with a side order of bullets? Do you find that horror and kung fu are completely compatible? Do you wish there were more superhero horror tales? This week we’re talking action-horror in episode 117! Lights! Camera! Start the squibs!
We’re back for more horror movie trailer talk! The discussion about The Scariest Things continues, with the help of trailer writer/producer John Foley.
Coming soon, to a theater near YOU! Are you the type of person to check out a trailer as soon as it hits the internet? Well, this episode is tailor made for you. The Scariest Things is joined by John Foley, a veteran trailer producer and horror fan, to discuss our favorite horror trailers.
Provocateur, carnival barker, secret intellectual, comedian, and instigator: the great Lloyd Kaufman is joining The Scariest Things to talk about his latest and greatest offering, #Shakespeare’s Shitstorm! Never boring, often crass, but always gracious, it was fantastic for the Scariest Things to spend some with the Mayor of Tromaville.
