Throwing back to the week of Nov. 2, 1954, we find a familiar trio hanging on at the top three of Billboard’s singles chart: Eddie Fisher’s ‘I Need You Now‘ and two Rosemary Clooney tracks, ‘Hey There‘ and ‘This Ole House.’
At #4 that week was Perry Como’s ‘Papa Loves Mambo,’ a tune that capitalized on a nationwide interest in the Cuban dance music style.
My final horror movie post of the year sings the praises of the genre’s acting. While many low-budget scary movies are notorious for wooden performances, particularly by dim-witted teens being lined up for slaughter, others are showcases for extraordinary screen acting.
The Academy Awards have famously ignored this genre, along with comedy, for nearly 100 years. Only six actors have won Oscars for horror movies: Frederic March for 1931’s Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, Ruth Gordon for 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby, Kathy Bates for 1990’s Misery, both Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster for 1991’s Silence of the Lambs, and Natalie Portman for 2010’s Black Swan.
One of the main reasons I’ve come to love horror movies is that, for all of their lowbrow pleasures, they so often are high art. Horror directors play with style, form, and technique with a freedom and fervor you don’t find as consistently in other genres.
I think part of that has to do with budgets. Horror films are famously low-budget affairs, which benefits them in a couple of ways. First, it forces filmmakers to innovate, whether it’s using practical effects or utilizing camera movement and editing to generate suspense. The most famous example is probably Jaws, in which Steven Spielberg came up with his shark’s-eye view because his mechanical shark wasn’t working.
Horror is the pizza of movie genres. Even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.
Nobody likes to watch a bad drama. Boooring. And it’s painful to sit through a bad comedy and cringe through all the moments you’re supposed to laugh.
But a bad horror movie almost always delivers a few scares, some impressive practical effects, or performances so weak they give the film a campy charm. Horror is the realm of “2 1/2 stars and a heart” on Letterboxd.
Another reason I really dig horror movies is that they often result in entertaining, ambitious sequels.
I’m not talking about the dozens of Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th installments — though some of those are better than others. I mean fresh takes on familiar properties that allow filmmakers to stretch their wings within an established — and they hope profitable — space.
I’ve seen a half dozen of these already this year, and they’ve all been worthwhile.
Meet Me In Montauk 