The MacGuffin

Shark Swarm starts with a group of fisherman dumping barrels of what I assume is something toxic into the ocean/bay. The fish are eating this toxic stuff and then a shark swims up and eat the contaminated fish. Flash to an awful montage of CGI sharks eating the fish, then a larger shark eating that shark, and so on (while the opening credits are flashing on the screen). Ridiculous start to the film.

Brandi Sperry: Since joining the MacGuffin crew, there are a few movies that the lads have given me shit about not having seen before. One in particular seemed to illicit that certain “I’m just surprised you haven’t seen it, is all” reaction from movie-lovers that is similar to a parent’s “I’m not mad, just disappointed.” That was Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn (1996).

Another Top 5 segment from The MacGuffin. This time Brandi and Allen share their top 5 weirdly scary films.

This segment is also available on Stitcher and iTunes. The audio version can be downloaded directly from here. After you’ve watched the video please vote in our poll and share which one you think is the best.

For my horror double feature recommendation this week, I decided to go on a more mysterious route. These two films can be categorized under the phrase “Curiosity Killed The Cat,” in which our protagonists, overcome by an obsessive compulsion to learn the truth, delve deep into their respective mysteries even when all signs tell them otherwise. Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973) and George Sluizer’s The Vanishing (Spoorloos, 1988) both begin with the same premise: a man in search of a woman who has disappeared without a trace. While the films tackle their subject matter in different manners—one dealing with religious fanaticism and the other observing the twisted nature of a single human being—both end with startling and horrific revelations, tapping into the darkest possibilities of the human condition.

By Guest Columnist Steven Sheehan, writer for FilmScope:

The horror scene finds itself in a similar situation to that of the late ’90s, where the originality factor was low and far too many repetitive stories were hitting the screens, making the outlook for the ’00s look pretty grim. Far too many serial killers had flattened the audience’s interest in spending their money at the cinema, and it took films like The Blair Witch Project and 28 Days Later to offer a new alternative, where the film’s power surprisingly came from its realism. Alongside the rise and fall of torture porn, the zombie subgenre has powered on full steam ahead, and whether it is ’80s parodies or serious attempts like the TV show The Walking Dead, a dead end is fast approaching. Pontypool quietly arrived on the scene a few years ago and offered a fresh approach, and whilst obviously restricted by its smaller budget, like all good films, it maximized the effect due to that very reason.

As part of our horror celebration for the month of October, we will be running a series of polls to try to nail down the best horror films from specific periods of time. This time we are tackling the best horror film of the 1980s. Please make your selection from the list below (or write it in if there is something else missing). Even better, share in the comments why you made your selection.

Among the rules of life if you are a character in a movie is: always be nice to the office freak. This person is about 5000% more likely than other characters to either go on a killing spree or become incredibly successful, by my scientific estimation. Either way, you want to be on their good side. I’m pretty sure the title of Cindy Sherman’s 1997 horror comedy Office Killer gives away which situation we’re in this time.

One of my contributions to the horrible festivities for October is a discussion of Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan (1922). As we’re still relatively far from the main event on the 31st, it feels apt to look at a film that rests at the edges of the horror genre, not fully committing itself to blood, gore or psychological tension, though never entirely breaking away.

Let me just say this upfront: the new “prelude” to John Carpenter’s movie The Thing (hereafter known as The Thing (JC)) is not an abomination. The Thing, also the name of the new movie, is an adequate bug hunt movie. If you have never seen The Thing (JC) and you liked Aliens, and you don’t like movies with subtext, then you might enjoy this. It has lots of explosions, monsters jumping out at people, tons of CGI gore, and fire. The plot proceeds logically and somewhat makes sense. There is a place for this kind of movie, and what it severely lacks in originality, it kind of makes up for by being competently directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. If you have seen The Thing (JC), then you will realize that this is a middle-of-the-road remake (of a remake) that is pretending not to be one. It’s not offensively bad, but it is completely mediocre and you would be better off just watching The Thing (JC) again.

Brandi Sperry: There are some remake projects that just won’t die, no matter what the obstacles, and the new version of Footloose was one of them. We’ve been hearing about this since Zac Efron was supposed to star in it back in 2007 (and hey, he did seem a logical choice, if someone was insisting on making this movie). Now, four years and a few potential stars and directors later, Footloose has arrived. Craig Brewer, best known for writing and directing Hustle & Flow (2005), took the reigns, and dancer Kenny Wormald takes on the role of Ren McCormack, the one that solidified Kevin Bacon as a star 27 years ago.