A Guide to Weird and Wacky Horror
The best films for this spooky season to add to your catalog.
Illustration: Khushi Sagar
Before the cold air turns to freezing wind, and the ground turns to slush, finding the right horror, or spooky movie to watch is always on the minds of film enthusiasts like myself. While we all have our classic picks, why not try to expand on your own taste with something new and wacky this Halloween season? I've compiled a list of my four favourite bizarrely unique horror films to diversify your watchlist this month.
NEW RELEASE: HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON (2023)
Perhaps flying underneath the radar last year was Quebec native, Ariane Louis-Seize’s Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person. The films premise involves a young vampire Sasha (Sara Monpetit) who is unable to avoid her empathic feelings for he victims, but strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young teen, Paul (Felix-Antoine Bernard) who exhibits behaviour’s of suicidal tendencies.
Sara Monpetit as “Sasha”
If the title isn’t enough to draw you in, the story will. Rarely do you receive a horror film that could be described as both poignant and ‘pointed.’ To call it a “coming of age story” feels accurate, as many of Sasha’s encounters feel as awkward as the viewers own personal memories from their youth. Sasha, despite being a creature of the night, must make the jump into adolescence whilst dealing with typical teenage experience- heightened emotion and strict parents Sasha and her parents embody the overburdening, yet best intentioned, dynamic between parent and child while still keeping in line with the vampire of it all.
Félix-Antoine Bénard and Sara Montpetit embrace the awkward charms of teen love
Perhaps the most compelling relationship is the young romance that slowly blossoms between Sasha and Paul. Although the two appear to be polar opposites, it becomes increasingly clear that Paul is not only okay with Sara’s vampiriness, but would also be willing to give his own life to be her next meal. Both characters and their relationship feel fully fleshed out in a way that allows you to connect, and enjoy their progress and growth as they handle the world of myth and morality.
HIDDEN GEM: GINGER SNAPS (2002)
For fans of Diablo Cody’s Jennifer’s Body, you should consider another underappreciated 2000’s feminist flick; Ginger Snaps, directed by John Fawcett. It features two outcast sisters, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins) as Ginger gets her period for the first time. Subsequently, she is attacked by a monster and miraculously survives, but something isn’t right. In fact, as a result of this attack, Ginger slowly begins to transform into a werewolf.
Katharine Isabelle as Ginger Fizgerald
Hell is most certainly a teenage girl in this film, as the fabled protagonist, Ginger, undergoes her own monstrous transformation, both through puberty and lycanthropy. The background of her first period already sets up an uncomfortable transformation only heightened by the grotesque and unnerving werewolf characteristics as Ginger becomes more and more untameable in both womanhood and wolf hood. Growing up is already an agonizing time period; the fanged teeth and excessive body hair don’t feel too far off.
Bridgette (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katherine Isabelle)
The film's writer, Karen Walton contributes heavily to the authenticity and The presence of a female writer allows for the film's female characters, although flawed, to not succumb to classic horror tropes of weakness and male dependence. Ginger’s transformation into a werewolf transgresses past the heteronormative gender roles depicted on her, and allows her to embrace her rage and desire throughout her metamorphosis. Additionally, the story does not make Ginger nor Bridgette reliant on male validation, rather the film chooses to focus on the ever changing yet unbreakable bond between sisters. Despite Ginger and Bridgettes mounting tensions, the film never strays too far from their powerful relationship, making the final scene an even bigger gut punch.
CULT CLASSIC: DEATH BECOMES HER (1992)
If you watched Sabrina Carpenter’s music video Taste, chances are you saw a couple references to classic films like Psycho and Kill Bill, another on the list is Robert Zemeciks’ 1992 Death Becomes Her, starring Meryl Streep as Madeline Ashton, Goldie Hawn as Helen Sharp, and Bruce Willis as Ernest Melville.
Left: The Taste music video. Right: Death Becomes Her By Robert Zimenkis
The film follows two friends turned rivals as they both fight for the same man, while secretly consuming a potion to eternal youth. The film is set in the 1970's under the distant yet consistent pressure of female beauty standards. Despite the inevitability of time, there is always something women must do in order to keep up their appearance, even if it means drinking a mysterious potion. If you were a fan of The Substance (2024), this film is another feminist-adjacent, body horror comedy spectacle. Both women go to great ends in search of infinite beauty in an attempt to spite one another, though ultimately finding comfort in each other exemplifying the impact of female solidarity over the likes of a man.
The film balances between being a satirical black comedy with elements of fantastical body horror as it deliciously unfolds over disaster, each more avant-garde than the last. This is headed by the Oscar winning visual effects in the film that allow 360 head spins, holes in torsos, and porcelain doll-like skin, all unheard of at the time of release, putting it ahead of its unappreciative viewers at the time, and solidifying its status as a cult classic. The sheer shock factor of the gruesome effects, juxtaposed by the rather undisturbed women is already funny enough, but with the addition of hilarious lines like, “I will not speak to you 'til you put your head on straight,” you can guarantee a laugh out of anyone you watch this with.
Some of the fabulous body horror: Goldie Hawn as Helen
Some of the fabulous body horror: Meryl Streep as Madeline
Although the film may treat its women a little more harshly than it treats its men, reinterpretations and reimaginings of the film help to move the criticism away from misogynistic and patriarchal standards of society, while Madeline and Helen assert themselves as beautiful, strong, and ambitious women. It is incredibly feminist to refuse to fade or disappear in a culture that enjoys isolating and alienating ‘older’ women from society. Madeline and Helen are agents in their own autonomy, not villains. From beginning to end, the women refuse to fade into obscurity and command the screen, whether it be through their words or actions, they make the movie their own.
PERSONAL FAVOURITE: EVIL DEAD II (1981)
What is possibly one of the most bloody horror films of all time, Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II, is a perfect successor to The Evil Dead (1981). The story follows Ash Williams, played by Bruce Campell, as he fights a horde of unleashed demons who possess and torment him. As Ash tries to survive the night, he slowly begins to realize there is no escaping this nightmare.
An iconic down the barrel shot of Ash (Bruce Campbell)
Evil Dead II, does The Evil Dead, but better. Raimi’s intense, stylized method of directing and writing blend the horror and comedy genre together, almost more seamlessly than the first . The choices of shaky cam, fourth wall camera breaks, and odd angles, create a hypnotic, nightmarish-like film that is both horrifying and mesmerizing. In tandem with his directing is the usage of stop motion animation and prosthetic makeup adding a level of tangibility and fear throughout the film that CGI alone won’t achieve. Of course you can’t mention an evil dead film without talking about the sheer amount of blood. Rarely is there a scene without the bright red fluid coating the walls of the cabin The way blood is used in spraying means truly puts it to an over the top level of camp, worthy of a supporting role.
Bruce Campbell as “Possessed Ash”
Annie (Sarah Berry) opens a trapdoor into a spray of blood
The star of the film is Bruce Campbell’s portrayal of Ash Williams. Campbell reaches Buster Keaton levels of physical comedy. There’s one scene in particular that stands out to me: Ash’s hand is possessed, and begins to attack. The scene involves Ash fighting his own hand, still attached to his body, as he attempts to ‘defeat it.” The conclusion (no spoilers) is incredibly satisfying, which leads to the best usage of the word Groovy ever. Campbell’s portrayal of Ash has solidified him as one of the top horror final girls of all time.
Evil Dead II is a celebration of the insane, outrageous capabilities of both horror and film. Raimi and Campbell both defy the odds and limitations of the genre in one bloodsoaked extravaganza that every horror fan (or movie lover) deserves to witness.