EPISODE 235: Halloween 365
TRT 31:28
CLIP We have such sights to show you…
And indeed we do.
Cinema Junkie The Theme bump 1 (drums)
BETH ACCOMANDO Welcome back to listener supported KPBS Cinema Junkie, I'm Beth Accomando.
Cinema Junkie The Theme bump 1 (Horns)
BETH ACCOMANDO For most people, Halloween is a one day a year. But for me it is 365 days a year with October 31 being the high holy day when I run a home haunt and then on November 1st I begin planning next year’s haunt in case I can take advantage of any post Halloween sales. But since building a haunt consumes me for most of the month of October I rarely get to enjoy the festivities that everyone else indulges in. So I say all this as a preface to my belated Cinema Junkie Halloween episode. (:38)
Music theme bump out.
BETH ACCOMANDO Today I want to share two things with you, my obsession with building home haunts and scaring the crap out of kids, and replaying the scary movie picks Yazdi Pithavala and I did last week for Midday movies. I need to take a quick break and then I will be back to extend your Halloween season with some spooky treats..
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BETH ACCOMANDO Welcome back to Cinema Junkie. I’m Beth Accomando and I am a home haunter. And yes it is an addiction. Fortunately I have friends who understand and feed that addiction but not everyone does. Some people can’t wrap their heads around what being a home haunter actually is. Do I let people wander through my decorated house? Do I dress in elaborate costumes to answer the door and hand out candy? My friend and former KPBS producer Neiko Will got tired of trying to explain to her friends why she could not do anything with them for the last week of October so she decided to interview me about what exactly home haunting is. She and her husband Saw have helped me make tentacles for Cthulhu’s Temple of Horror, build a prison for an electric chair, make coffins for Dracula’s Castle… Last year, while they were helping construct a torture tower and moving walls for our Hellbound Haunt, Neiko interviewed me and one of my key partners in crime, Kevin Walsh.
BETH ACCOMANDO: Thanks to Neiko Will for capturing the madness of home haunting. I need to take one last break and then I will be back with some scary picks to keep the Halloween season going. But first, a message from Silver Shamrock.
MIDROLL 2 [currently at 15:08]
BETH ACCOMANDO Welcome back to KPBS listener supporter Cinema Junkie I’m Beth Accomando. Last week Moviewallas’ Yazdi Pithhavala and I did a Midday Movies segment recommending films to watch on Halloween night. So if you missed that discussion or if -- like me -- you are suffering from some post-Halloween blues and need a spooky pick me up, here are some films to cheer you up with a little darkness. Since our biggest challenge is always narrowing down our selection to just a few titles. I decided that for my picks, I would only recommend films that actually take place on Halloween. Otherwise, the pool of films was just too big. I asked Yazdi if he set any parameters on his choices.
YAZDI PITHAVALA I, Beth, did not want to pick the usual go to horror films, the obvious scary films that everyone goes to, and just go with some unusual picks.
BETH ACCOMANDO To start with, you picked a recent Indian horror film. And before you tell us the title, I wanted you to tell us a little bit about the horror genre in India, because it feels like to me that every country kind of has a unique flavor to their horror. If you think about South Korean films, they make you care deeply about the characters and then do horrific things to them. Italian horror tends to be kind of operatic and very stylish. So do you think there's anything special about Indian horror?
YAZDI PITHAVALA Indian horror, since the was a very popular genre subgenre of films in India, and there were the famous Ramsay brothers, which made they had a factory house of horror films. They would churn out very popular because the movie showed a little bit of skin. They were also a little bit of scary, and the midnight audience would lap up those films. But I really like the resurgence of horror, which has happened in the last five to ten years in Indian cinema. And these are filmmakers who are really steeping their films completely within Indian folklore and using Indian mythology and demons and gods and those kinds of things to kind of ground their films. And really, I think that adds so much more flavor to those films, especially to Western audiences who may not be familiar with a lot of the Indian mythology when it comes to horror.
BETH ACCOMANDO All right, I haven't seen this one, but I did watch the trailer, which looked fabulous. So tell us what this first pick is.
YAZDI PITHAVALA So my first pick is a movie called Thumbbad, which is screening on Amazon Prime. And this film takes Indian folklore and blends it with horror so effortlessly to create something entirely unique. The premise of the movie is that there is an evil being which is trapped in the womb of a goddess who watches over an abandoned mansion and protects a treasure that no one can get to for fear of. Their life. Until a child who has grown up under the terror of that creature grows up to figure out how to get at that treasure. The film is shot in constantly rainy, muddy tones, and it's frankly, a marvel of cinematography. It taps into the theme of the deadly price of human greed, but it does it with remarkable finesse I mean, this is just a very good looking movie to watch. It's a visual treat to see and one that effectively manages to scare as well. Is it hauntingly beautiful, or is it beautifully haunting? You decide.
BETH ACCOMANDO And my first pick also has some haunting beauty and children in it. And it's the 2016 Australian film called Boys in the Trees by Nicholas Verso. And I know there are a lot of popular and well known films that are set on Halloween, but I did, like you, want to try and find some titles that are not as commonly recommended for a Halloween viewing. So I love finding something new. And I found this coming of age film dressed up in the tropes of a horror movie. So it's set on Halloween night with all the trappings of a horror film.
CLIP Tis the night, the night of the graves delight. And the warlocks are at their play. He think that without the wild wind shout. But no, it is they. It is they.
BETH ACCOMANDO And what I love about this film is how all the familiar Halloween scares of ghosts and werewolves turn out to be metaphors for much scarier real world horrors like bullying or betrayal or just someone's loss of their dreams. So there are no jump scares or gory kills. But there's lots of Halloween atmosphere and a really beautiful visual style. Sometimes it might be a bit too on the nose with the analogies, but I really love the care and craft of this film.
YAZDI PITHAVALA This reminds me, Beth, of one of my favorite films, which didn't make our list here, but Pan's Labyrinth by Guillermo del Toro, which also deals with a little girl who is kind of trying to deal with the gruesome things happening in the real world by virtue of the imaginary one that she concocts in her head.
BETH ACCOMANDO And since we're speaking of craft, your next pick is also one of my favorite movies. And this is Bone Tomahawk. So why did you want to recommend this film, Beth?
YAZDI PITHAVALA I have you to thank for actually introducing me to this film. And I remember championing it pretty strong when it was first released. I love this movie because it pulls off the most deft fusion of genres. It seems for the most part, to be a sturdy Western about a sheriff who endless a posse of men to go save three people who are abducted by what seems at first a Native American tribe. And it is only when we find out more about the nature of this tribe that we realize the film's true horror ambitions.
CLIP You know who did this? There's only one group that hunts at these. Who? They don't have a name. Kind of tribe doesn't have a name. One that doesn't have a language. Cave dwellers. You know where they are? I have a general idea. You'll take us to them. I won't. Because you're an Indian? Because I don't want to get killed. You're afraid of your own kind. They're not my kind. They're a spoiled bloodline of inbred animals that rape and eat their own mothers.
YAZDI PITHAVALA This is a cannibalistic tribe of troglodytes who will spare no mercy to get what they want. The film is thrillingly paced and gruesome and cruel. I believe this one deserves its place on the list of films with relentless terror.
BETH ACCOMANDO And this is one of those films that is a slow burn. It takes its time getting there, and when it gets to that point, it just goes off a cliff. It takes a left turn that it does not come back from.
YAZDI PITHAVALA I love that when the film gets in the last 15 to 30 minutes, it gets into this area where everything is dialed up to eleven. And from that point onwards, it does not skip a beat. And you, as the audience member, forget to breathe as well.
BETH ACCOMANDO And what's interesting about this film is I know that s Craig Zahler, the director, was asked to trim it down and was told, well, there seems to be scenes where nothing's really happening. But as with South Korean films, part of the trick of this is he really makes you fall in love with these characters so that when horrific things happen, it really rips your heart and gut out.
YAZDI PITHAVALA So Kurt Russell, who plays the sheriff and Patrick Wilson, all of these characters, you really grow to kind of like them and you're invested in them so that when the script turns, it screws. Oh, it hurts. It really does hurt. Yeah.
BETH ACCOMANDO Yes, it does. And Bone Tomahawk uses kind of social structure, the town and kind of traditional things that you depend on for rescuing you or saving you. And they use it in an interesting way, and so does my next pick. So I picked a brand new film, and I have an author friend of mine, Cody Goodfellow, to thank for this, who just a couple of days ago said, if you haven't seen Dark Harvest, you need to stream it right away. And it's on prime right now. It's from director David Slade, who also made a film called Hard Candy and 30 Days of Night.
BETH ACCOMANDO So it opens just a few days before Halloween in 1963. It's kind of a period film, but not 100% realistic. It's set in a small town that has a horrific annual Halloween ritual.
CLIP One of your classmates will certainly die. That thing grows all year long in our fields, only to rise up every Halloween night with a single solitary purpose to destroy our way of life. Your sacred duty is to take down Sawtooth Jack before that church bell rings at midnight and to get you fat little Nancy's ready, we make you hungry for it. Three days. No food, no mommy, no nothing.
BETH ACCOMANDO One of the surprises about this film is it looked absolutely gorgeous. The cornfields were amazing. The nighttime shots, the pumpkin headed creature. It all looked spectacular. And it's really a shame that this went directly to streaming and never got a theatrical release. It has a little bit of kind of this American Gothic vibe to it, which is that everything in the town seems kind of white picket fence and pleasant, but there's something very dark underneath. It also has a little bit of the purge vibe to it, but it feels much more cleverly plotted and with much more measured and beautifully shot violence. So I also like how it creates kind of a whole new Halloween folklore to go by. So I highly recommend this. And it's streaming so you can get to it very easily.
YAZDI PITHAVALA So, Beth, I didn't realize that this film that you just recommended is made by David Slade, who also made the film Hard Candy. You mentioned about it. And Hard Candy itself is certainly a great film to recommend for Halloween. It also stars Patrick Wilson, who is in Bone Tomahawk, and it's this cat and mouse game that occurs between two individuals, and it's almost a crime to give away more. But certainly this director knows what he's doing.
BETH ACCOMANDO And your final pick is also a favorite of mine, and it's from one of my favorite directors, David Cronenberg. And this film is proof that a remake can be good. So, what have you got?
YAZDI PITHAVALA I've got the prototype film from the master of body horror, as you mentioned, David Cronenberg The Fly. The Fly was a remake of a 1958 film and a short before that. And I think Cronenberg just elevates that story. And even now, 40 years later, when you watch it, you realize that the marvel of his craft remains undimmed. More than 40 years later, as we watch with equal parts amazement and queasiness, this is a story of a scientist trying to teleport himself, and he fails to see a fly that flew into the device. And initially he's quite invigorated by it.
CLIP So I asked the computer if it had improved me, and it said it didn't know what I was talking about. And that's made me think very carefully about what I've been feeling and why. And I'm beginning to think that the sheer process of being taken apart, Adam, by Atom and put back together again, why, it's like coffee being put through a filter. It's somehow a purifying process. It's purified me. It's cleansed me. And I'll tell you, I think it's going to allow me to realize the personal potential I've been neglecting all these years, that I've been obsessively pursuing goal after goal.
BETH ACCOMANDO But as we know with Cronenberg, it's not going to go well.
YAZDI PITHAVALA Yes, it does not. And being a Cronenberg film, the lead character slowly but surely starts to realize that he himself is morphing into a fly, at first behaviorally and then very much anatomically. This is a film, again, with effortless tension, and it's a very pleasing, glitzy looking movie, but it certainly has far more ambitions and it certainly survived the test of time.
BETH ACCOMANDO And also, it is strangely, a love story.
YAZDI PITHAVALA Yeah, it's also a love story because there is this tender romance at the heart between the Jeff Goldblum and character and you could see it as an allegory about two people who are right for each other until one of them literally changes. And how much can you change than a human being becoming a fly?
BETH ACCOMANDO Okay, and I am going to close out our picks with a very well known franchise, but I am going to go to a much maligned entry. I am going to suggest Halloween, but it's going to be Halloween three, Season of the Witch. And this is the only Halloween film that does not feature Michael Myers.
CLIP It's almost time, kids. The clock is ticking. Be in front of your TV sets for the horathon and remember, the big giveaway at nine. Don't miss it and don't forget to wear your masks. The clock is ticking. It's almost time.
BETH ACCOMANDO So that song and that commercial from the film is like an earworm that gets stuck in your head. John Carpenter and Deborah Hill had the idea that maybe Halloween could be an anthology in which the holiday of Halloween was the anchor and the constant factor rather than one of the characters. So the film bombed and many still hate it. But I think it's a really fun horror flick, perfect for Halloween night. It involves a witchy plot to sell Halloween masks that will kill the wearer on Halloween night and it has the great Tom Atkins in it. And I will gladly take this Halloween over any of the Rob Zombie or David Gordon green ones. And plus, I just love how that theme song gets stuck in your head.
YAZDI PITHAVALA I mean, the first one is timeless. I could go back and watch that any number of times. It's really, again, a marvel of how to create a pressure cooker in 90 short minutes. Yeah, again, one of those classics which will always be played.
BETH ACCOMANDO And yes, you can't go wrong with watching John Carpenter's original Halloween on Halloween night. But for a change of pace, I do suggest giving Season of the Witch Halloween three a try. So, Yazdi. I want to thank you very much for being my partner in crime for midday movies.
YAZDI PITHAVALA Likewise, Beth. Always a pleasure.
That was Moviewalla’s Yazdi Pithavala. I hope doing a belated Halloween show helps extend the spooky season and inspires you to celebrate Halloween and the joys of horror 365 days a year… like I do. And I am already planning a Godzilla haunt for next year!
That wraps up another edition of KPBS listener supported Cinema Junkie. If you enjoy the podcast then please share it with a friend because your recommendation is the best way to build an addicted audience. You can also help by leaving a review.
Till our next film fix, I’m Beth Accomando your resident Cinema Junkie.
