In tribute to Margot Kidder, we review one of her more well-known horror flicks. We both remembered this as being fairly boring, and at least one of us hasn’t revised that assessment. Regardless, it was a huge hit and a widely influential haunted house movie.
People my age usually remember Chris Sarandon from one of two movies: The Princess Bride or Fright Night.
Fright Night bills itself as a horror-comedy. I would argue that most American horror movies – particularly from the 80’s – have a comedic streak, however thin. April Fool’s Day, anyone? Night of the Creeps? Child’s Play (there’s Sarandon again, come to think of it)? While Freddy Krueger devolved into a lame comedian chuckling at his own jokes, even the mostly brutal and joyless Friday the 13th films built a sense of irony into deaths and characters.
Back to Asia, where my dad happens to be visiting us here in Beijing. He took his first guest turn on our show this week and appropriately chose a film from one of our neighbors to the east – available to you on Netflix at the time of publishing. Listen to Craig gush over this zombie movie so heavy it’s embarrassing.
The Omen (1976)
The wife of an American diplomat in Rome loses her baby in childbirth, but she doesn’t know that. Considering how distressed she would be, her husband decides to replace the child with a baby from the orphanage at the Catholic Church down the street who happened to be born that day – June 6th at 6pm. Get where this is going?
The Ruins (2008)
I think I would’ve enjoyed The Ruins a lot more if I hadn’t read the book first.
This is another Suburban Americans Out Of Their Element tale in the same family as Deliverance and The Descent. Some young American tourists in Mexico team up with a newfound friend to investigate his brother’s disappearance while exploring a remote and uncharted Mayan ruin. Once they arrive, they plunge waist-deep into more than they bargained for.
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