Kate Spofford, author

Tag: horror movies

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 8: Prom Night

    Decided to go with a classic tonight: 1980’s Prom Night, which still felt very entrenched in the 70’s, what with the disco prom theme and the unforgettable Jamie Lee Curtis dance number at the film’s midpoint. After the initial hook, with some creepy kids yelling “Kill!  Kill!  Kill!” until a little girl falls to her…

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 7: Lights Out

    There’s nothing more universally scary than the dark.  Here we’ve got a crackling shadow woman who is only visible in the darkness, which makes me wonder why THE HELL people are flicking the lights on and off to see her???  I’d turn the lights on, see that the shadow was gone, and LEAVE THE LIGHTS ON.…

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 6 – Cell

    I read this book by Stephen King when it came out a few years ago, and was thrilled to have a King novel that didn’t pretend to be anything other than a horror story.  And while in general movies based on Stephen King’s books don’t always turn out great, Cell has John Cusack and Samuel…

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 4 – Baskin

    Naturally, when I came across a Turkish horror movie, I had to watch it.  I’ve seen a lot of foreign horror movies, but never one from Turkey!  I have not seen any Turkish movies at all, so I really had no idea what to expect. This got a LOT more explicit than I thought it would –…

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 3 – Hellions

    I did not have high hopes for this one, since Netflix showed the average rating as 2 stars.  How could this be?  You’ve got creepy kids in masks!  This is a surefire way to make a horror movie awesome. So Dora discovers that she’s preggers, and opts to stay home while her mom and little…

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 2 – Opera

    Today’s horror movie was Dario Argento’s Opera (1987), a film so buried in my Netflix DVD queue that I’ve forgotten how or why I put it there. Dario Argento is considered one of the masters of horror, and yet I’ve always had sort of a “meh” feeling about his movies.  To be fair, I’ve only…

  • 31 Days of Halloween, Day 1 – We Are What We Are

    Feeling a bit hungry last night, I decided to watch a movie about cannibals. “We Are What We Are” (2013) has been sitting in my Netflix queue for a while, and I’ve heard generally positive things about it, although I wasn’t aware until now that it’s a remake of a Mexican film.  The good reviews…

  • horror movies “based on a true story”: The Conjuring (and Annabelle)

    “Based on the true case files of the Warrens,” proclaims the tagline of “The Conjuring.”  The Warrens have been involved in a number of these “based on a true story” horror movies, including The Amityville Horror and The Haunting in Connecticut. What is true: Ed and Lorraine Warren investigated the haunting of the Perron family…

  • Carrie showdown: The Original vs. The Remake

    It was with a lot of hesitancy that I even watched the “Carrie” remake.  I’m not sure how a director takes a classic horror movie – not a cult horror movie, or one with shitty special effects, but a classic horror movie that was well-received in its time and continues to be well-known and loved…

  • horror movies “based on a true story”: The Haunting in Connecticut

    Yet another haunted house tale “based on true events.”  Is this any closer to the truth than The Amityville Horror? What makes the true story behind this movie kind of cool is that the house was examined by Ed and Lorraine Warren, the ghosthunters whose story is told in the movie “The Conjuring.” What is…