This being Thursday, it's time for another edition of Thursday Movie Picks, the blogathon run by Wandering Through the Shelves. We've got today and one more Thursday in October, meaning two more horror-themed editions of the blogathon. This week, the theme is Holiday Horror. I had one movie right in mind since I just watched it recently, and had to think of two others. Eventually, I came up with some less common holidays:
My Bloody Valentine (1981). Holiday: Valentine's Day. A mining town in Nova Scotia suffered a disaster 20 years ago on Valentine's Day, with one of the miners resorting to cannibalism to survive and vowing to kill people if they tried to hold another Valentine's Day dance. After all those years pass, the town does try, and wouldn't you know, people start getting murdered in grisly ways. Young adults also start doing incredibly stupid things, as is par for the course for slasher movies, but this one is actually pretty fun.
Black Orpheus (1958). Holiday: Carneval/Shrove Tuesday. Lovely retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus set in modern-day Rio de Janeiro against the backdrop of Carneval. Bruno Mello plays Orpheus, a streetcar conductor who is planning in participating in Carneval. He meets Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn), who has come from the sticks to escape somebody, who turns out to be Death, stalking and killing her. Orpheus descends into the underworld to see Eurydice, with tragic results.
Hangover Square (1945). Holiday: Guy Fawkes Day. Laird Cregar plays a Victorian-era composer who suffers from some sort of mental illness that causes memory lapses during which he kills people. Cregar meets music-hall singer Linda Darnell and kills her during another of these memory lapses, using a Guy Fawkes bonfire to dispose of her body when everybody else would think it was just an effigy. The tragic last movie for Cregar, who, being known for his weight, went on a crash diet to try to slim down in order to be able to get better roles. It caused stomach problems and ultimately a heart attack that killed him before the release of Hangover Square.
2 comments:
We have a match...sorta. I used My Bloody Valentine for Winter Horror. Haven't seen your other two picks.
Haven't seen the Valentine's Day one but the other two are excellent films.
LOVE that you used Hangover Square with my girl Linda Darnell getting a chance to stretch herself somewhat as the rapacious Netta. Cregar's story is a heartbreaking one, so much talent lost so young.
This isn't my typical sort of film so I was surprised that my three came to me right away.
Hellbent (2004)-Police tech Eddie and his group of gay friends are celebrating the holiday at the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival and wander off to the nearby woods to see the site of a recent murder where two lovers were decapitated with a sickle by a maniac. With the woods full of revelers they don’t think a thing about the bare-chested guy in a devil’s mask carrying a scythe who seems to be following them……but they should!!
Trick or Treat (1986)-Eddie Weinbauer (Marc Price) is a typical all-American teenager until he falls under the evil spell of ROCK MUSIC! Now he's obsessed with the recently deceased Heavy Metal superstar Sammi Curr who perished in an inferno of fire. As Halloween approaches Eddie is gifted with an unreleased demo of Sammi’s last album “Songs in the Key of Death” by his DJ friend Nuke (Kiss frontman Gene Simmons). He discovers by playing the demo backward he can summon Sammi’s malign spirit who instructs him on how to settle the score with the bullies who torment him leading to all hell breaking loose! On top of all that you get Ozzy Osbourne as rock-hating TV evangelist!!
Who Slew Auntie Roo? (1971)-Mrs. Forrest (Shelley Winters) is affectionately called Auntie Roo by the staff and kids of the nearby orphanage who see her as a kindly eccentric who throws a lavish Christmas party for them every year. However she’s really a deeply disturbed whack job who keeps her dead daughter in the attic nursery. At this year’s party Auntie Roo spies Katy (Chloe Franks) who reminds her of her late little girl and who she imprisons in the nursery. When nobody believes him it’s up to Katy’s brother Christopher (Mark Lester) to go head to head with the demented lady and bust his sister outta there! Shelley frequently chews the scenery but good in this reworking of Hansel & Gretel.
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