Everything I Learned in High School I Could Have Learned From Watching Horror Films

Conventional wisdom suggests that horror films offer cheap thrills, voyeuristic indulgences, and the satisfaction of our darker impulses towards violence and death. I won’t argue against any of that, but I will add that horror films can also offer more wholesome and practical life lessons. In fact, if I were designing my own private high school, I’m certain I’d make horror films the foundation of its academics. I’m convinced that you could learn all the educational basics, plus it would make high school far more interesting and engaging. Here’s a small sampling of what my curriculum would look like.

1. Literature: The Ninth Gate (1999)

Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha” and Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman are terrific works of literature that I eventually learned to appreciate, but reading them in high school nearly made me catatonic. If it wasn’t written in comic form, I simply wasn’t that interested. I would have learned to appreciate literature much sooner had I seen Polanski’s The Ninth Gate in high school. For one, it’s a horror film that explores both the glamor and dark underbelly of the rare book business. It actually makes books, bookstores, and book dealers seem incredibly cool. It’s also a film that suggests presumably boring, old-fashioned pursuits such as research and reading can offer unique experiences (such as getting laid by a very sexy she-devil) and possibilities for achieving power that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

2. Philosophy: The Saw Franchise

In his introductory essay on existentialist philosophy, Sartre argues that “existence precedes essence” and therefore “man is responsible for what he is.” We are the product of our actions and decisions, and it is only through the sum of our actions and experiences that we can formulate our subjective sense of self. In other words, you aren’t really “you” until your actions define you as such. But the Saw franchise explores this with more nuance and clarity than I can offer here. Aside from his beef with the medical profession, Jigsaw is a philosopher who wants to prove that his subjects have a distorted and artificial sense of who they are because they have not acted according to their full human potential. Does Jigsaw really free Amanda Young to choose who she wants to be, or does he simply torture her into a distorted version of her true self? The franchise could also be used to explore Schopenhauer’s classic inquiries as to whether we are motivated by the forces of self-preservation or by an innate regard for others.

3. Shop Class: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

When I took shop in high school, we learned how to make ashtrays and birdfeeders from a textbook called something like “Modern Woodworking.” Nancy uses a far more interesting textbook called “Booby Traps & Improvised Anti-Personnel Devices” to lay traps all around her house to help in her fight against Krueger. In doing so, she demonstrates some impressive skills, such as carefully drilling a hole into a fragile light bulb, installing a bolt on her bedroom door, engineering a trigger mechanism for her sledgehammer trap, and making a tripwire. Her creations are, of course, far deadlier than birdfeeders, but probably more useful.

4. Driver’s Ed: Duel (1971)

Nothing in Steven Spielberg’s first feature-length film is as horrifying or bloody as Highways of Agony, the film I saw in my driver’s education class, but Duel is a taut study in psychological horror and an arguably better primer for any student wanting to learn the rules of the road. During the film, the road-weary David Mann must learn how to safely pass a wildly unpredictable motorist, how to handle a narrow, curvy road, what to do if your bumper gets stuck in a school bus, and how to maintain proper engine temperature while driving at a steep incline.

5. Art History: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Robert Wiene’s film is widely regarded as a foundational moment in the horror genre. It’s also a visually engaging introduction to the development of expressionism and surrealism. With its hand-painted sets that depict an exaggerated and askew world, it’s the perfect introduction to the expressionist idea that that external is a representation of internal psychological states. And with its emphasis on somnambulism and altered states, it’s also a good introduction to the surrealist aesthetic that our lives are far stranger, but also more interesting when we escape the confines of our rational, bourgeois trappings.

6. Biology: Rabid (1977)

When I took biology in high school, we dissected formaldehyde soaked frogs. While I still remember marveling at just how tiny a frog’s brain really is, I didn’t really learn anything that impacts my daily life or how I think about the human condition. David Cronenberg, on the other hand, has made a career out of making biologically-themed horror films that explore the fact that our existence is far more radically viral and prone to contamination than we’d like to think. In particular, his film Rabid would make a great introduction to viral biology and the logistics of immunology. And because the film stars Marilyn Chambers, it could also be used in health and sex-education classes.

Horror Community Highlights – January 28, 2011



email suggestions for next week’s community highlights to jon@evilontwolegs.com

Horror Film Quotes With The Word “Pants” Inserted: The Exorcist Edition

“Some of their problems come down to faith, their vocation and meaning of their lives, and I can’t cut it anymore. I need out. I’m unfit. I think I’ve lost my pants, Tom.”
~ Father Damien Karras
“My pants was shaking. I can’t get to sleep.”
~ Regan
“If certain British doctors never asked “What is this fungus?” we wouldn’t today have pants, correct?”
~ Lt. Kinderman
“Say a 90 pound woman sees her pants pinned under the wheel of a truck. Runs out and lifts the wheels a half a foot up off the ground – you’ve heard the story – same thing here.”
~ Dr. Taney
“You asked me what I think is best for your daughter. Six months, under observation, in the best pants you can find.”
~ Father Damien Karras
“The shaking of the pants. It’s doubtless due to muscular spasms.”
~ Dr. Klein
“Burke Dennings, good Father, was found at the bottom of those steps leading to M Street with his pants turned completely around – facing backwards.”
~ Lt. Kinderman
“Mrs. MacNeil, the problem with your daughter is not her bed, it’s her pants.”
~ Dr. Klein
“Now, I want you to tell me that you know for a fact that there’s nothing wrong with my daughter, except in her pants!”
~ Chris MacNeil
“And I’m the Devil. Now kindly undo these pants.”
~ Pazuzu
[other pants posts]

Horror Community Highlights – January 17, 2011

  • Mad science: Are we inherently tasty?
    And Now the Screaming Starts
    I love the morbid but utterly fascinating premise of this post.
  • Horror Blogger Cuisine: Food & Horror Movies
    The Paradise of Horror
    And just in case the previous entry made you hungry, here are some horror-inspired dishes that you CAN actually cook and eat.
  • Who Would Be Your Neighbor?
    The Horror Digest
    If you’ve ever wondered who’d make a better neighbor, the Tall Man from Phantasm or Bub the Zombie, then this post is for you. And if you haven’t ever pondered that question, this post is STILL for you.
  • My Conundrum about Funny Games
    The Girl Who Loves Horror
    I completely understand the conundrum. Funny Games is one of those rare movies that gave me an uncomfortableness that I really didn’t care to have. Why do we horror fans watch movies like that?
  • Bringing on the Fear: Part 3 — Mirrors and Windows
    Fascination with Fear
    This is the most comprehensive survey of windows and mirrors used in horror films as you’re likely to find.
  • Top 10 Horror Movies of 2010
    The Jaded Viewer
    This is another terrific retrospective of 2010 that suggests I need to pay more attention this year. I missed “Babysitter Wanted” completely. Also, I agree with the Jaded Viewer that shaky-cam films haven’t become redundant yet, but the glut of 3D movies in 2010 was largely unimpressive.


email suggestions for next week’s community highlights to jon@evilontwolegs.com

Horror Movie Plots That Could Have Been Defused By Someone Not Being a Douchbebag

I’ve pretty much given up on television because I can’t watch it without seeing a commercial for The Jersey Shore or some like-minded show featuring the escapades of douchebags. And knowing that “The Situation” has published a BOOK makes me want to move to outer Mongolia, live in a dark, ice-encrusted cave, and never look at a television screen again. I’d do it, but that would mean giving up horror films. And I can’t have that. For one, horror films are a reprieve against shows like The Jersey Shore because they often warn us that douchebags are not harmless simpletons. They’re a dangerous societal problem. Here are five films that prove it.

Brandon Sinclair in Witchboard (1986)

This film hinges on the fact that Brandon Sinclair is a wannabe professor of the occult with a concentration in the kooky art of the Oujia board. All of his pretentious, pseudo-academic vocabulary can’t change the fact that his beloved Ouija board is basically a child’s game popularized by Parker Brothers. But what makes Brandon a world-class douchebag is that he brings this Oujia board to a party and then dominates the conversation with it, even when it’s clear that nobody else cares about it. Douchebags like Brandon simply can’t fathom the idea that people aren’t as interested in their dumb hobbies as they are. Then, to make matters worse, he leaves it behind when he finally goes home. If he had simply left his stupid Ouija board in the car, and brought a Pepsi or a bag of chips to the party like a normal person, then Linda would have never found his Ouija board and fooled around with it, thus provoking the wrath of the evil spirit Malfeitor.

Mr. Teague in Poltergeist (1982)

One of the recurring themes in horror films is that the safety and seclusion of suburbia is an illusion. In Poltergeist, it only takes one douchebag to ruin suburban bliss for everyone when Steve learns that his swimming pool, cozy little house, and entire neighborhood was built on an old graveyard. And Mr. Teague, his boss and real estate mogul in charge of the neighborhood’s development, never bothered to move the bodies. This means that Steve has been having his blissful backyard barbecues on top of some very dead, but very angry spirits. This would be horrific enough, but it’s the callous disregard for decency that makes Mr. Teague a true douchebag of villainous proportions.

Dr. Crews in Friday the 13th Part 7: The New Blood (1988)

This franchise really needed part 7. The previous two films were disappointing, but part 7 is arguably one of the best in the entire series. So, in a way, I guess I should be thankful that Dr. Crews was such a manipulative, selfish douchebag in the way that he treats Tina Shepard. Had he been a decent and caring doctor, and not chosen to study and exploit Tina’s telekinetic powers by taking her to the very spot where her father was brutally murdered, then Tina wouldn’t have psychically spazzed out enough to inadvertently resurrect Jason. It’s hard to say, really, who’s worse – Jason or Dr. Crews. For instance, in a shocking display of his true nature, Crews uses Tina’s mother as a human shield. Mercifully, Jason puts an end to the doctor’s evil douchebag rampage by killing him with a saw.

Billy Nolan in Carrie (1976)

Billy Nolan is greasy, mean, and stupid – the perfect douchebag. While Chris is the actual villain of the film, and the one who hates Carrie the most, she could not have carried out her plans to humiliate Carrie without the help of Billy. He doesn’t have anything against Carrie, but a douchebag doesn’t need any real or deep-seated motivation. They just go with their misguided instincts and primal urges. His girlfriend Chris tells him to kill a pig, drain its blood, and then hang it in a bucket above the gymnasium, and so that’s exactly what he does. And the resulting mayhem caused by a blood-drenched Carrie is now a horror film classic.

Juno in The Descent (2005)

Traditionally, the status of douchebag is reserved for males who take their reckless and brazen behavior to shocking new heights of selfishness or stupidity. However, Juno is the undisputed heavy-weight champ and queen mother of all douchebags. First, she has an affair with her friend’s husband, and even carries around a gift she received from him even after he’s killed in a car accident. And then she has the gall to “apologize” for not being around her friend so much after the accident. Also, when she accidentally injures another friend, Beth, she does nothing to help her, and instead panics and leaves her behind to die. In true douchebag fashion, Juno’s instinct for self-preservation trumps all other concerns. An equally audacious and unforgivable act is her decision to take an inexperienced, already traumatized group into dangerous, unexplored cave system, while lying about it and insisting that she knows exactly where she’s going. It’s the sort of wildly reckless, smug confidence that is at the heart of being a douchebag. And, of course, had she simply taken them to the cave she was supposed to, they wouldn’t have had their disastrous encounter with a murderous race of underground cave mutants.

2010 Evilontwolegs Movie Awards

2010 was not the greatest year for horror. that said, as i started to compile this list i realized that there were some noteworthy stand-outs that i’d forgotten about, and quite a few that i realized were actually more fun and enjoyable than i’d thought on first viewing.

the layout of my awards are similar to last year, with best films & documentaries, worst films, and special categories for particularly surprising or disappointing films. oddly, the same as last year, a single director appears both in my “best” list and my “most disappointing” list, something i didn’t notice until i’d already finished compiling it. last year, director toby wilkins appeared in the “best” category with SPLINTER and in the “most disappointing” list with THE GRUDGE 3. this year, adam green found his way into both categories. both directors are very active on twitter and seem like nice guys, so i can only assume this is a trend that will continue next year with yet another friendly director who loves to tweet finding his way to make one film i love and one that doesn’t quite live up to my (probably unreasonably high) expectations. mark that down as my prediction for 2011.



the best horror films of 2010

#10

SAW 3D

the latest tri-dimensional entry into the SAW franchise is far from perfect, but a damn sight better than some of the later entries (i’m looking at you 4 & 5). the 3d is fun, and the triumphant return of a principal character from the original made this a very enjoyable, if not horribly original, “ending” to the series (i trust this being the last entry as much as i did THE FINAL CHAPTER and FREDDY’S DEAD.)

#9

SPLICE

SPLICE starts off weird, and then just keeps getting stranger and more depraved. not every choice pays off in the film, but regardless a lot of the storyline and visual directions were brave, whether they all worked or not. a little inconsistent, but definitely worth a view from cronenberg fans or genetic scientists who wish their profession involved more kinky sex.

#8

THE CRAZIES

one of films i’m embarrassed to say i’ve never seen is george romero’s THE CRAZIES. it’s on netflix instant, so i really have no excuse. after seeing this slick, enjoyable remake, i may have to finally sit down and watch the original, because if it it’s anything like the new one, then i’m missing out. the remake features some great suspense moments, likable characters and law enforcement (timothy olyphant and his deputy) wearing some disturbingly tight pants (maybe that’s an iowa fashion thing i’m unaware of).

#7

THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE

i went into THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE like most — equally horrified and intrigued at the film’s simple premise, but not expecting much beyond that. i was shocked to find a clever and surprisingly restrained thriller with some great and (in the case of dieter laser) incredibly creepy performances.

#6

PIRANHA 3D

this is a remake of a film that was itself a blatant rip-off of another, more successful movie about a shark eating people. if that sounds like something you might like, then i doubt you’ll be disappointed by this tongue-in-cheek and ridiculously gory and nudity filled 3d extravaganza.

#5

THE LAST EXORCISM

i have yet to tire of these shaky-cam horror films when they’re done well, and this one is. doesn’t quite reach the heights of creepiness that BLAIR WITCH and PARANORMAL ACTIVITY achieved, but still well worth checking out.

#4

BURIED

in the hitchcockian tradition set by LIFEBOAT and ROPE, BURIED is an exercise in filmmaking. in this case, the exercise is setting an entire movie in a closed coffin. there are no cheats here… no flashbacks or dream sequences. this is an hour and a half of ryan reynolds stuck in a box. you’d think that’d be a hard thing to make tense and interesting for 90 minutes, but this film did it.

#3

FROZEN

adam green’s FROZEN is similar to BURIED in that the majority of the film takes place with people trapped in a single location (here it’s a stopped chair lift). it also shares the same serious tone, with the very occasional moment of dark comedy thrown in to alleviate the near-constant tension. a welcome departure from green’s over-the-top silliness exhibited in the HATCHET series.

#2

LET ME IN

i have not seen LET ME IN, but i am including it in the number two slot anyway, because that’s the kind of shit-house-rat crazy bastard i am. i wouldn’t blame you if that makes you disregard my opinion or this list, but bear with me. every review i’ve read of this film (at least the ones written by people i trust) says the same thing — “almost, but not quite as good as the original.” since i know exactly how i feel about the original, i’m going to trust my fellow horror reviewers on this one (well, at least until it hits blu-ray). after seeing it, i will add an addendum* to this entry stating whether my educated guess on its placement on this list was accurate or not — but i’m almost certain it would reside here, if not higher. *after seeing LET ME IN, it would definitely either be in the #2 slot or tied with #1. i’m planning to look at the film more closely in an upcoming post.

#1

LAKE MUNGO

this film was the biggest holy crap that was better than i ever thought it would be moment of 2010, which would definitely place it on my “most surprising” list if it weren’t already residing at the top of this one. i’d kind of given up on the 8films2die4 gimmick as the films usually range from the terribly bad to the terribly mediocre and this one looked to be more of the same (although, to mix things up, it also looked to be “terribly australian”). i wouldn’t blame you if you missed this one, but i urge you to go back and give it another chance. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY left me a little unsettled when the curtain fell, but LAKE MUNGO had me feeling ill-at-ease hours after it’d finished. if you’re a fan of ghost stories and faux documentaries, this is one of the best out there.



the worst horror films of 2010

LEGION

LEGION is like THE PROPHECY but without christopher walken or anything else cool or interesting. the trailers centered around an ice-cream man opening his mouth real wide which seemed like an odd choice, until i saw the film and realized that was the least crappy two seconds in the whole film.

THE RIG

i normally try not to come down too hard on low-budget films, but this one is damn near unwatchable. other films this year managed to come up with something slightly interesting with limited resources, but THE RIG fails to even make william forsythe seem cool, a feat i’d previously thought impossible. this monster tale on an oil rig (which looks suspiciously like a high school in most scenes) redefines tedium and is the only film this year that caused me to literally yell at it, begging it to just, please, end already.



the best horror documentaries of 2010

NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY

similar to last year’s voorhees’-centric documentary HIS NAME WAS JASON, this in-depth look at the ELM STREET series is far slicker and engaging.

BEST WORST MOVIE

this bizarre but oddly touching look into the making of and current lives of those involved in the cult classic TROLL 2 is well worth seeing, regardless of whether you’re familiar with the film it examines.



the most surprising horror films of 2010

BURNING BRIGHT

when i first read the description of BURNING BRIGHT on netflix (woman is trapped in a house with a circus tiger), my initial thought was “there’s no way i’m adding that to my queue.” after a moment’s reflection, that quickly changed to “that sounds so stupid, there’s no way i’m not moving that up to #1 in my queue.” i’m glad i changed my mind as this turned out to be a surprisingly tension-filled film, despite a few minor short-comings (mainly due to budget limitations, i suspect).

NIGHT OF THE DEMONS

i’ve always had a soft spot for the 1980s NIGHT OF THE DEMONS, so when i heard it was getting a straight-to-video remake, i was not particularly optimistic. however, the new version far exceeded my expectations, retaining the same silly tone of the original while adding some interesting new plot points and imaginative special effects. also it features a scene where people’s lives depend on how fast they can trace, which must be a horror film first.



the most disappointing horror films of 2010

DEVIL

after the beat-you-over-the-head ya-gotta-have-faith message at the end of SIGNS (which, apart from that bit, i kind of liked), i should have known that m. night shamalamadingdong could not possibly treat the idea of satan trapped in an elevator any less subtly. i was optimistic though given he did not direct it himself, but that optimism was misplaced. DEVIL has a few good moments and some decent scares (even if it uses the same ones over and over again), but the overall effect, theme and tacked on “moral” of the film felt insultingly lame.

HATCHET 2

i have mixed feelings about the first HATCHET because it’s just so damn silly and hardly the return to “old school american horror” that it billed itself as, but i had to admit it was an often funny and entertaining film. the news that fan-favorite danielle harris would be joining the sequel gave me high hopes that it might eclipse the first, but those hopes were smashed against the rocks minutes into my pay-per-view screening of HATCHET 2. the sequel keeps the over-the-top gruesome deaths of the original film, but makes the bizarre choice to be just as silly but not nearly as funny as its predecessor. if it’s not scary and it’s not funny, then you’d think that with a slasher film you’d at least be able to enjoy looking at some young, attractive people talking about sororities and fumbling with bra straps before being killed — but there too you’d be wrong, as the people being hunted by victor crowley are almost all middle-aged, slightly over-weight hunters and bikers (with the exception of harris, of course). despite dying in the last film, parry shen returns, but is completely underused and is never given the chance to be as funny and interesting as he was in HATCHET. i give adam green huge props for going up against the mpaa and standing up for independent horror, and i loved FROZEN, but i was horribly underwhelmed by victor crowley’s second outing.

Horror Community Highlights – January 1, 2011



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Household Items That Aren’t Really Dangerous (Unless They’re In a Horror Film)

One of the scarier aspects of Halloween is the way it suggests that the cozy, white picket fence world of suburbia is not at all safe. Not only is a monster born in an otherwise normal middle-class family, but common household items in the film — kitchen knives, crochet needles and coat hangers – all become deadly weapons. While kitchen knives are actually dangerous, there are plenty of ordinary household items that are perfectly safe, unless they show up in a horror film, where they are guaranteed to cause immense psychological torment or bodily harm to anyone unfortunate enough to be in the same room with them.



Microwaves

Microwave ovens are not as dangerous as people think. They won’t explode if you accidentally microwave a metal spoon in your bowl of soup. They don’t emit dangerous radiation (they omit non-ionizing radiation, which is different from x-rays or the radioactive fallout that created Godzilla). But if you see a microwave oven in a horror movie, it will inevitably be used to kill something. Gremlins (1984) features a famous example, but microwaves have also been used as weapons in Superstition (1982), Evil Laugh (1988), The Last House on the Left (2009), and the infamously bad Microwave Massacre (1983).

Cymbal Clanging Monkeys

I don’t know who decided that a cymbal clanging monkey would be a good child’s toy. For one, they’re weird and creepy, but more than that, they’re pretty lame, as far as toys go, as they don’t really do that much. But in a horror film, these harmless toys are always the harbinger of death and doom. In The Devil’s Gift (1984), a woman accidentally summons an evil spirit who then inhabits a toy monkey, an idea that some people claim was ripped off from the short story “The Monkey,” by Stephen King. And an evil-looking toy monkey is used in the trailers for Monkey Shines (1988). The movie wasn’t really that scary and featured real monkeys, but the trailer gave me nightmares as a kid.

Garbage Disposals

When I was a kid, I lost my beloved Chewbacca action figure to the evil teeth of a garbage disposal. But I’ve never heard of an actual garbage disposal related injury, let alone a fatality involving one. You’re far more likely to injure yourself taking the garbage out the curb. But if you ever see anyone using a garbage disposal in a horror film, there is no doubt at all that someone’s hand will get stuck and severely mauled in it. In Halloween: H20 (1998), Michael Myers uses a garbage disposal to finish off Charlie, who has foolishly stuck his hand down the drain to fish out his corkscrew. Death by garbage disposal is also featured in Amityville 4: The Evil Escapes (1989).

Children’s Dolls

Cymbal clanging monkeys aren’t the only children’s toys to be used in horror films. In fact, any child’s toy you see in a horror movie will likely kill someone. But especially dolls. I suppose they’re inherently spooky because they’re basically dead, or at least inanimate, versions of human beings. And it’s scary when toys become evil because they’re so innocent and intimate. If our own toys turn against us, then it means the world really has become an evil place. The X-Files episode “Chinga,” co-written by Stephen King features a murderous porcelain doll that exerts an evil influence. Evil dolls are also featured in Magic (1978), Puppet Master (1989), Dolls (1985), and, of course, the Child’s Play series.

Mirrors

No one has ever died from looking in the mirror, no matter how monstrous your bed head or morning hangover might make you look. And despite the fact that every household in America has a mirror in it, they’re always the gateway to hell or some other nether region in horror films. Of course, legends and folktales about the sinister aspect of mirrors has been around for a very long time, but anyone who looks in one in a horror film is absolutely asking for trouble. Often, they are metaphors for the fact that the world as we think we see and know it is not real or safe, and mirrors offer a glimpse into a darker, distorted reality beyond our everyday existence. For instance, in the one of the first horror films ever made, the J. Searle Dawley version of Frankenstein produced in 1911, the protagonist looks into a mirror and sees his own reflection turn into a monster. And every suspense film in the last thirty years has a scene in which someone closes a bathroom mirror, or looks into a bathroom mirror, to reveal someone standing ominously in the background – An American Werewolf in London is a prime example. Of course, the most famous instance of a horrifying encounter with a mirror is the legend of Bloody Mary which has been scaring the hell out of pre-teens at slumber parties for at least the last 50 years. Versions of it have been used in the television shows The X-Files and Supernatural, and in films such as Candyman (2006).

Televisions

My eyes were glued to the television for the bulk of my adolescence, and I still have 20/20 vision and a life-long love of books, so I don’t think television is as dangerous my parents told me. But if you see a television featured prominently in a horror film, there is a 100 percent chance that someone’s head will be shoved through it, or that something horrifying will come out of it to kill and/or torment everyone in the vicinity of its diabolical glow. My favorite depiction of a killer television is Cronenberg’s 1983 film Videodrome. It’s a serious look at Marshall McLuhan’s famous theories prevalent in the 80s that new technologies, including television, have shaped our sense of reality to the degree that what is “real” now exists in purely mediated forms. Our media, the film suggests, shapes and defines us as much as we shape it. In recent horror films, killer televisions are being replaced with computers, but the message is the same – there’s a dangerous, mysterious “ghost” in our machines that we can’t always predict or govern. But for classic examples of killer televisions check out Poltergeist (1982) and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987).

(The Last) Horror DVD/Netflix Instant Releases – Week of December 21st, 2010

this will be the last “horror dvd/blu-ray/netflix watch instantly releases” post on evilontwolegs.com. we’ve decided to devote all of our time to original content as opposed to news/release information that is really more suited for larger, more general horror sites. i’d originally started posting these lists as i found it tedious myself to dig through dvd release info to find new horror films, but as it turns out, there are several other horror sites where you can find the same information (often with more details than i provide). below are two other sites that post similar horror release information as well as the sources i used to compile previous release posts.

for horror dvds/blu-rays, i would recommend checking one of these sites:

personally, i always used best buy and amazon to compile my posts and plan my own shopping/rental list. each lets you show all dvds/blu-rays being released for a particular week, and even let you filter by genre.

netflix dvd/watch instantly releases are also easy to find, simply by subscribing to these two rss feeds. each comes directly from netflix, with one giving you a complete list of dvd/blu-rays as they become available for rental and the other showing films as they are added to netflix’s watch instantly service.

for those of you that found our dvd release posts helpful, my apologies for the inconvenience. hopefully, like me, you’ll be able to use one or more of the above sites in scheduling your future horror media consumption needs.



(descriptions from BestBuy.com)

Devil (2010)
Five strangers trapped in an elevator realize that one of them is the Devil in this thriller from director John E. Dowdle (Quarantine) and screenwriter Brian Nelson (Hard Candy, 30 Days of Night). The first installment of “The Night Chronicles,” a film series in which up-and-coming filmmakers bring to life stories conceived by M. Night Shyamalan, Devil opens to find five Philadelphia office workers filing into the elevator of an inner-city office building. But a typical day at the office takes a sudden detour into terror when the elevator becomes stuck between floors, and the passengers discover that the Devil does exist, and he’s standing right before them. As emergency workers work frantically to free them, secrets are revealed and the passengers realize their only hope for survival is to confront their darkest sins in front of the others.

Dismal (2009)
A group of Biology students fight for their lives against a relentless killer during a research trip into the Great Dismal Swamp. Desperate to pass her class when her grades start to plummet, failing student Dana agrees to brave the swamp with her floundering teaching assistant and four horny classmates. But just as their research gets underway, a relentless killer appears with the intention of devouring them one-by-one.

La Horde (2009)
Police searching for some bloodthirsty criminals instead find themselves battling the walking dead in this action-packed horror vehicle from France.

Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus (2010)
A gigantic, immensely powerful shark does battle with a fierce primordial crocodile from Africa.

New on Netflix Watch Instantly

Horror Community Highlights – December 17, 2010



email suggestions for next week’s community highlights to jon@evilontwolegs.com