Happy October and welcome! All 31 days this month, I will be reviewing all the films I watch in the month of October. They’re mostly a selection of horror or suspense films in my own library or films and shows that have been recommended to me.
Please enjoy and leave a comment!
And if you missed any of our past reflections, take a look:
The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Psycho (1960)
The Haunting (1963)
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)
The Other (1972)
The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Young Frankenstein (1974)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
Halloween (1978)
Alien (1979)
The Shining (1980)
Halloween II (1981)
The Evil Dead (1981)
Halloween III – Season of the Witch (1982)
Ghostbusters (1984)
Teen Wolf (1985)
Aliens (1986)
Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Predator (1987)
The Monster Squad (1987)
The Witches of Eastwick (1987)
The Lost Boys (1987)
Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn (1987)
Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
They Live (1988)
Beetlejuice (1988)
Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
Ghostbusters II (1989)
Predator 2 (1990)
The Addams Family (1991)
Alien 3 (1992)
Army of Darkness (1992)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Crow (1994)
Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Scream (1996)
Alien: Resurrection (1997)
Scream 2 (1997)
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
The Sixth Sense (1999)
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Scream 3 (2000)
28 Days Later (2002)
Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
The Ring (2002)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Identity (2003)
AVP: Alien vs Predator (2004)
Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Snakes on a Plane (2006)
Alien vs Predator: Requiem (2007)
Halloween (2007)
Grindhouse (2007)
Halloween II (2009)
Predators (2010)
Absentia (2011)
Prometheus (2012)
The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
Escape From Tomorrow (2013)
Oculus (2013)
Before I Wake (2016)
Hush (2016)
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Alien: Covenant (2017)
Happy Death Day (2017)
Our next film is…
WATCHING: Get Out (2017)
DIRECTOR: Jordan Peele, one half of the comedy group Key & Peele. It’s clear that Peele was influenced by The Twilight Zone as this film is highly inspired by Serling’s creation.
WHAT IS IT?: In his directorial debut, writer/director Jordan Peele (known as the other half of the comedy duo “Key & Peele” with Keegan-Michael Key) presents its audience with a hell of a film. On the surface, this is an amazingly creepy thriller and, on the other, it’s a deep, dark social satire of American race relations. Peele’s ability to make you cringe with terror and fright utilizing both is uncanny and recalls the work of Rod Serling and Alfred Hitchcock.
THE PLOT: Chris Washington is a New York photographer who is stressed out due to the impending meeting with the parents of Rose Armitage, his white girlfriend. Despite Rose’s assurances that her parents are Liberals who aren’t racist, Chris can’t help but be apprehensive.
Upon arriving at her parents’ rural estate, Rose’s parents turn out to be just as she described them — except that they’re a little TOO accommodating, treating Chris as though he’s a trophy…and then there’s the Armitage’s black housekeeper, Georgina, who seems a touch robotic and disconnected.
At first, Chris plays ball and goes with the flow. But after a strange encounter with Rose’s mother on the first night, Chris can’t help but shake the feeling that he’s in the middle of something which is not only sinister, but which is also centered around his presence.
WHAT DID CRITICS THINK?: This was one of those films which had a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes before useful Black Conservative idiot critic Armond “Diamond & Silk Have Nothin’ On Me” White got to it. The six other morons who joined him shouldn’t be allowed to critique film. In any case, it got raves. The film also won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
WHAT DID I THINK?: Everything in Get Out is on point from the performances to the visual style to the agonizingly unsettling set pieces. “The Sunken Place” is, easily, one of the most frightening ideas I’ve seen in a horror film in years. And everything you see is punctuated by an eclectically brilliant musical score which not only serves to highlight how creepy and weird the film gets but also features black voices with emphasis on a blues style and Swahili chanting.
The only gripe I have is Chris’s goofy friend who’s too self-aware for his own good — but, thankfully, the film works regardless of this.
It’s an impressive work that had a budget of just $4 million dollars and took less than a month to make.
Get Out is amazing.
GRADE: A