The Horror of 2024 (movies)
2018 was a personal highpoint for me for weird/indy/cool horror films I got to see in the theater (Suspira 2018, Border, Assassination Nation, Mandy, etc.). 2024 may be another highpoint, given the last 2 weeks and what this summer has waiting for me.
Everyone who is upset about Marvel and Disney “destroying” cinema and film clearly aren’t horror fans. Also, they clearly haven’t been paying attention for the last 50 years — Its never been easy to get art made in the studio system. But it’s never been easier to monetize independently produced “art” films, so… maybe the sky isn’t falling? It certainly isn’t if you are a fan of “arty” or highbrow horror films. And man, the last week has been a doozy.
In a Violent Nature was so fucking good it hurt. It was clever without being twee. It was brutal without being nihilistic. It was beautifully shot, but remained true to the visual aesthetics of its low-budget VHS inspirations. After watching the movie, I ran out to find out more about this director, and in one interview he made a joke about how this movie was made for about Five people, and I gotta tell you, I’m one of those five people. I loved it. It’s as if Terrence Malick made a slasher film.
It’s hard to have spoilers for a slasher film… There is no real plot points I could spoil, but I don’t want to spoil the way that you come to, and react to the film. Just know that there is a no-shit auteur directing this, and trust where he takes you. Also… I saw this on the Big Screen (somehow it was playing in the Main Auditorium at my local Alamo Drafthouse, instead one of the little closet theaters!! Thank you Alamo!) If you get a chance to catch it in the theater, do so — the sound design and other immersive qualities of the film are calling out for a theatrical experience — its probably more important to see this on the big screen than it is to see the Dune sequel on the big screen, from an aesthetic standpoint.
Another painfully amazing film that skews horror is I saw the TV Glow, written and directed by by Jane Schoenbrun. Now, I didn’t recognize her name when I first heard about this film, but I did recognize the name of her debut feature… We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. That was a weird-ass little piece of indy cinema that I’ve been trying to pick out of my teeth since the day I saw it over a year ago. After watching I saw the TV Glow, I assure you I will know her name, and remember her. She is the real-auteur-deal.
Now, just a note about marketing, and niche vs universality… You may hear that this is a “Gay” movie. Or that it is “about” Neural Divergence. I’m not in either of those categories… I am the most boring old CIS white dude there is and I so painfully identified with this movie. It’s a movie about living inside your own head, and being cut off from meaningful relationships with other people.
This movie speaks to the universality of the alienation of adolescence (and beyond), and it does so by examining the way we cling to various pieces of pop-culture fluff/detritus/masterpieces, as a way to keep us afloat when we are drowning. I’m going to try and keep this spoiler free, so I won’t go into how exactly this plays out. But Damn. This one went in some wild and unexpected directions.
Additionally, I just happened to be able to catch this one in one of the rarest of rare things in America… an independently owned first-run movie theater. The Presidio Theater in San Francisco (Lee Neighborhood Theaters — https://www.lntsf.com/) provides a great movie-going experience… support them if you get a chance.
I know the other couple of horror films that I’m looking forward to are a very personal kink, so your milage may very. But I’m really looking forward Maxxxine from Ti West. This one probably doesn’t need a lot of explanation. But the other one that I’m super intrigued by is Alien: Romulus.
The latter is the classic Hollywood formula of giving a slightly tired franchise to the weird Indy director and see what they can do with it. Aliens 3 was kind of a mess, and Aliens 4 was remarkably forgettable but both films used this template of going after the hot young auteur to give the Alien franchise a tune-up.
I have high hopes for Romulus, as I think director Fede” Álvarez is criminally underrated. Also, He’s been given this exact test before in 2013 — and he passed it with flying colors. The 2013 Evil Dead remake was just the right amount of fan service and re-imagining… it is the best possible Evil Dead remake that we could have gotten. Maybe lightning will strike twice? I hope so. I’ll be in the theater to see if it does.
