Center of Gravity

Returning to the genre

I’m not unfamiliar with horror. Once upon a time in undergrad, I would watch something spooky every week at my friend Kelly’s dorm. She was hilarious, constantly anxious, and high most of the time. She was also the perfect movie watching partner. Along with some friends, we would all sit on her twin bed and fire up her ancient laptop to find whatever we could pirate get on one streaming service or another. We saw some good ones – The Grudge, Blair Witch, Sinister – but it was all through a smoky haze. I certainly don’t remember much, but I’ll never forget how much fun we had. All told, I was left with two things – a crippling addiction to weed, and a distinct impression that I loved horror. For some reason we stopped hanging out after that year, and along with it, I stopped watching horror movies (I kept smoking weed, though). 

With Fall, we get earlier sunsets, Halloween, and the horror of Thanksgiving. As a bonus, everything feels like it’s dying. This season was the perfect time to get back into it. I committed myself to watching as many horror movies as I could stomach. I watched 24 movies over the course of about two months. These are the reviews of my top five. 

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I started Malignant thinking it was a typical James Wan offering. Even casual horror fans are familiar with his style (you’ve probably seen Saw, The Conjuring, Insidious). He does a certain type of horror that can be very one note: the main feature is the scare itself. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. A Wan-type horror to me is comfortable like an old blanket, an insulated experience that’s thrilling in the moment and asks nothing of you afterwards. So, when I sat down expecting him to do his thing, I was shocked to find a film absolutely dripping in style with a hilarious and novel twist, equal parts self-indulgent and self-aware while managing to nod to his previous work. 

At first, it’s pretty straightforward: there’s a ghost or an entity or whatever, it’s haunting our main girl. Jump scares ensue, rinse repeat. However, around halfway we find out that she (checks notes) has a conjoined twin in the style of a malignant tumor on the back of her head which (awakened from her getting knocked in the head, obviously) is now piloting her body backwards (since the head is facing behind her, of course) while she’s asleep to take revenge on (brutally murder, slasher style) the surgeons that stitched him away so many years ago. It’s awesome. Note: they hired a contortionist to do the backwards facing stunts practically, which is so, so sick and singularly worth praise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still James Wan. Characters, performances, and narrative nuance still take a back seat. However, for what it is – one-note played loud and hard – it’s perfectly fine. 3.5/5 

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Evil Dead (1981) | Sam Raimi

Evil Dead has very little to do with the narrative premise (teens survive a cabin in the woods with zombies) and everything to do with how Raimi uses it to do whatever the hell he wants. This movie is filled to the brim with personality. A big highlight was the use of practical effects for body horror. They were rarely (never) realistic, but they were certainly visceral, chunky, pulpy, and always used to incredible effect. As a natural result, the physical comedy was also front and center. I didn’t expect this film to be as athletic as it was. In our characters’ plight to survive the undead menace, they’re thrown around in a very slapstick way that actually made me laugh out loud.  

From the performances (unhinged) to the stunts (ridiculous) to the cinematography (don’t even get me started), every aspect of the film serves the broad purpose of fun. Even the lack of a clear plot or visual continuity (Bruce Campbell gets completely drenched in blood and other various fluids, only for him to be spotless in the immediately following shots) are ingredients in this horror-comedy stew. Horror, more often than other genres, can require a pretty steep suspension of disbelief. If the director’s voice is clear, it’ll feel as though the movie asks, “here are my rules, please follow them for a good time”. Evil Dead doesn’t ask – it demands – yet it still manages to maintain an impeccable sense of cohesion and soul. Before, I didn’t really understand the appeal of camp horror, but this movie showed me the light. I was so taken aback by its absurdity and sense of freedom that I felt a kind of euphoric hysteria by the time the credits rolled. Evil Dead gets a meaty 4/5.

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Uncut Gems (2019) | Benny & Josh Safdie

Though not strictly “horror”, this was the scariest goddamn movie I saw out of the 24. Uncut Gems follows Adam Sandler as the deeply indebted Howard, a character who answers the question: what if someone were entirely motivated by greed? The movie is a rapid-fire series of increasingly tense situations that present Howard chance after chance to pay his debts. A slave to his greed, he doubles down every time. He’ll use flattery to make a deal, and seconds later break it just for the rush. There are moments where it’s suggested he might have a heart, but he quickly crushes such notions, abusing the trust of everyone around him in service to his gambling addiction. All this is supported by Sandler’s absurdly nuanced performance. Howard is a rat bastard, but there’s something that makes you root for him regardless. The supporting cast is excellent (plus, The Weeknd is here for some reason) but I was especially impressed by Julia Fox’s portrayal of his surprisingly genuine lover. Their interactions added a needed element to this layer cake of an anxiety attack.

This movie manifests tension so effectively that I had to pause and take a breather a few times. In contrast, no matter how bad things got, Howard maintained an infuriatingly cool affect. This is what the movie does best – we see Howard make bigger and bigger gambles, rewarded each time (many setbacks notwithstanding) for his reckless behavior, all with a straight face while we as the audience writhe in discomfort. At the end I was in cold sweat, yelling at the Adam Sandler to show me how it all ends. Perhaps the most impressive part of it all? The Safdie brothers stick the landing with a horribly perfect ending. Uncut Gems gets 4/5.

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Raw (2016) | Julia Ducournau

Please give me a chance to sell you on a movie with on-screen cannibalism. Raw follows Justine, a first-year vet student contending with the complex social fabric of young adulthood. Initially vegetarian, she quickly discovers she has an irresistible taste for human flesh. I was skeptical at the premise, but what sounded to me like C list trash turned out to be one of the most gripping and intense films I’d ever seen. The focus is on Justine’s coming to terms with her identity, often demonstrated through her fraught relationship with her older sister Alexia. It turns out her cannibalistic craving is genetic, and we see the push and pull of Alexia’s mentorship with Justine’s unwillingness to give into her hunger (picture: Alexia causing a car accident to feast on the driver, demonstrated like a hunting lesson for a hesitant and repulsed Justine). Every aspect of college that Justine struggles with – the sexual tension with her gay roommate, the violence she experiences through hazing, the constant bullying she gets for sticking out – is another layer in the metaphor of her conflicted identity.

This movie is art in motion. In moments when Justine is uncertain, the cinematography and soundtrack are brooding and understated, but when she gives in to what she truly is – when she eats – it builds to pointed crescendos so powerful that you can’t help but watch open-mouthed and horrified. Ducournau uses these scenes sparingly but with devastating effect, never for shock value and only as a tool to reflect Justine’s brutal path to actualization. I never thought I would wholeheartedly recommend a movie that so nearly made me vomit. It’s awful at first, but then you think – aren’t there things inside us that we hate but can’t change? Isn’t it easier, then, to accept those things as they are? And are we not just looking for someone to love us in spite of those truths? Raw gets a crunchy, squishy, 4.5/5. 

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House (1977) | Nobuhiko ObayashI

A simple premise – a group of teen girls decide to go to an aunt’s house for vacation, but the house turns out to be haunted and starts killing them all. Of the 24, House was hands down my favorite, but I’d also be least likely to recommend it. Here’s why. 

I’ll start with the good. House’s strongest stylistic identifier is the maximalist editing and visual effects. Any scene with supernatural activity is saturated with some of the most insane imagery you’ll ever see. Nobuhiko plays with visual distortion, playback speed/direction, and so much color, often incorporating elements of animation on top of the already impressive practical effects. I’d describe it as scrapbook kaleidoscope horror. On top of that, the cinematography is amped – unconventional camera work and genuinely beautiful shots create a punchy and immersive feel. As far as pacing, I’d place House firmly with “movies that feel like nightmares” (see: The Lighthouse, Mother, any of David Lynch’s movies) in the sense that there’s always something strange happening amidst a malleable sense of time. The movie weaves between roiling boils of frantic energy and low simmers of high-concept absurdity. It never stops, it’s never boring, and if you like the style as much as I did, you’ll want to wrap yourself in it like a blanket. 

Now, the bad: There’s a lot about this movie that would really put people off. First of all, each of the girls is named after their defining trait, and one of them is called “Mack” because she’s the heaviest of them. She’s relentlessly bullied as comic relief until she’s the first to die. Approached the wrong way, this is very unfunny. There’s also some partial underage nudity that I could see many being reasonably uncomfortable with. More than any of that, however, is this movie’s refusal to shape itself into anything other than exactly what it is. It’s unapologetically nonsensical and overwhelming. If you don’t like it, you might hate it. 

This post is my first attempt to publish my opinions on media of any sort, so I was surprised at how difficult it could be to describe why I liked the things I liked. In the case of House, I could cite any number of technical elements to answer why I loved it so much, but the real answer is: I don’t know. I simply don’t have the words, and I think that’s okay. It made me feel happy, sad, and excited. It surprised me, it made me laugh. Nobuhiko put vibes on the table, and I agreed. The world is too big to have a reason for everything, sometimes it’s enough to love something just because. House gets the easiest 5/5 I’ve ever given.

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Closing Thoughts 

I initially chose to do this genre dive because of the fall season. Now, I see horror as a year-round treat. What I expected to be a monotonous slog turned out to be a cornucopia of flavors and colors that totally blew me away. In the 24 movies, I got cosmic terror (Annihilation), tragic romance (The Fly), comedy (Evil Dead 2, don’t even get me started), and much more. Horror is for every season. Granted, many of these movies scared the pants off me, but they usually had a point, and they certainly had variety. Horror done correctly is the perfect vessel for cathartic emotion across the spectrum. On the light end there’s the brave horror comedy (a subgenre I’m claiming as a new favorite) and towards the middle you’ll get your standard creature features and the odd ghost story. But on the deep end? Horror can carry the weight of real life. In this genre, the gloves are off. We’re allowed to ask the real questions: What do we do when we’re backed into a corner? What do we do when everything goes wrong? What really matters to us when the sun goes down? 

For those that are hesitant to try, I hope I’ve given you something to consider! For those new to horror, I’d be happy to give suggestions! I’m declaring myself an apprentice of the genre, feel free to ask. For those of you who already love the genre, I hope this post resonated with you. Did you agree with my reviews? What are some of your favorites? Let me know in the comments and I’ll see you next time!