Some Horror recommendations pt 4: fresh and visceral



Spring (Benson and Moorhead, 2014)
Really lovely, kind, and fresh.  Why isn't this more (or at least, as) popular as It Follows? 



Final Girls, Todd Strauss-Schulson
Just saw this (still in theaters). It's absurdly well-edited and lovely. The meta-thing is obviously overplayed-- I'm as tired of talking about horror-film tropes as anyone else, and that's saying something-- but this has some interesting stuff to say about grief and friendship, and is definitely worth seeing for the humor and the filmography, especially if you feel that most horror is pretty stale.



Ginger Snaps, John Fawcett, 2000
Feminist fun and angst. Dated only by style.





 Detention  (2011) and All Cheerleaders Die (2013)
I group these together because they are both quick, stark, and ridiculous. All Cheerleaders Die is cheap and seemingly artless, and Detention is so fast-paced and quip-loaded that it is destabilizing. Both are also entirely fresh. Isn't that where horror started? I like horror for its freedom, its focus on atmosphere and on (often and aptly, teenage) irreverence over plot, its adrenaline. These are both fun and both part of the future of horror, be it low-budget and meta or millennial-quip-filled while avoiding the nasty, dated, mean-spirited and flimsy quality of Ryan Murphy offerings like Scream Queens. In fact, I have been watching Scream Queens and feeling dirty about it, and I feel like these are a palate-cleanser. Watch these if you've seen everything else.





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