Tag Archives: Horror

“THIS IS NOT MY FACE” – The Importance of Body Horror to Modern Storytelling

In the right macabre hands, body horror is a crucial tool in the storytellers arsenal for leaving truly lasting impressions on an audience.

 

It’s Halloween! That magical season birthed in a stew of ancient pagan and synchronized early Christian festivals that really came unto its own once the broiling American melting pot got a hold of it. Endless debates will rage about its true origin, but everyone can concede that it’s meant to celebrate the coming of harvest, to venerate the dead we’ve lost, and to maybe scare away some evil spirits just for good measure. Most folks will dress up, party, and hand out candy, but in those odd years when All Hallow’s Eve falls on a school night, most of us will be happy to celebrate at home in our PJs with a good scary movie (or TV show /“limited series”/Webisode/Twitch feed…whatever the kids are doing these days).

 

The question that many of us get when our friends and loved ones come to us seeking a recommendation for a celebratory spook is “I like scary things…but is it GORY!?!” which is usually followed by “I just can’t handle the blood and guts.” This is a fair observation given the odd, imperiled nature of the world at the moment, but I feel like it’s often used to relegate body horror to the realms of cheap thrills and D- movie schlockfests. In the right macabre hands, body horror is a crucial tool in the storytellers arsenal for leaving truly lasting impressions on an audience. I see body horror functioning in two distinct ways: Destruction of the Body and Corruption of the Body. Let’s dissect them, shall we?

 

SPOILER WARNING: This article is literally about the gory details, so be warned…minor spoilers ahead for as wide variety of films from the last 50 years or so.

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Episode #251 – Tragedy Girls

This week it’s serial killers and social media as we tackle the surprisingly fun horror comedy Tragedy Girls, directed by Tyler MacIntyre. Special thanks to friend of the show Elizabeth Hanley for the recommendation.

 

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Episode #250 – Hereditary

This week on the podcast we talk about Hereditary, the feature film debut of Ari Aster. It stars the amazing Toni Collette and features some impressive miniatures. Special thanks to Tom Ford for taking a break from his fashion career (see our Nocturnal Animals episode) to join us.

 

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Episode #208 – What We Do In The Shadows

QUEST CHOICE! We wrap up our spooktastic month with a deep dive into the comedically devious minds of Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement who brought us What We Do In the Shadows. Special thanks to Zack Edwards for picking the film and joining us to talk about it!

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Episode #178 – Lost Highway

We travel back in time…no…we transform into…no…wait. Hrm. Well, we definitely go to a space and exist there, and we talk about David Lynch’s LOST HIGHWAY. David Lynch joins us, except he is actually Christopher Ortiz – our special guest. Is that Rammstein playing in the background? Anyway, you’ll want to listen in as we try to make sense of what’s going on!

 

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Episode #175 – Don’t Breathe

This week we’re joined by friend of the show and horror aficionado Hunter Johnson to talk about the thrilling sophomore film from Director Fede Alvarez – DON’T BREATHE. We were on the edge of our seats and we expect you will be too, so hit that play button and give this episode a listen!

PLUGS

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