Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: Slasher!

About the Author: Parker Simpson is a writer and podcaster focusing on cult films and their social impacts. They currently cohost Where Is My Mind, a podcast focusing on underappreciated films from a variety of genres and countries. They have also held panels, chartered local organizations, and written articles to their blog. When not writing or studying, they like to spend time with their pets and go outside. Check out the podcast Linktree and blog.

Dang, this thing is slo- wait, is that a Confederate flag on the wall? Where does this movie take place? Ohio? That was a union state!

Girls Nite Out lives in the same vein of small town slashers, its brethren being My Bloody Valentine, The Prowler, and Sleepaway Camp. You could also safely say elements of Halloween and Friday the 13th are spliced in for good measure. The basic plot is simple: young people put in a precarious situation involving an unknown killer taking them down, one by one. Girls Nite Out’s spin on this is putting them in a scavenger hunt in this small town, and having the killer be a dude in a mascot suit (to any of my friends who are Five Nights at Freddy’s fans: DOWN BOY, DOWN! SIT. STAY. HEEL!). As someone who has lived in a small college town, how poorly attended is this university to have the student body participate in a scavenger hunt?

Nothing. Happens. For. A. Very. Long. Time. I think that’s how it normally is in Ohio anyhow, unless Joe Burrow is playing football. It’s not a terribly eventful film, relying on the small-town hijinks of several college kids. I know a lot of people get annoyed when a movie just relies on its coziness, but I never really mind it. Jess Franco does the same thing in several of his films, only the cozy is broken up by sex instead of brutal murders. I have no issue either way. The bear mascot is creepy as fuck, constantly calling his female victims “whores” and killing people via knives on his paws (proto-Freddy Krueger?), filling the requirement that there be some gore (however minimal). He’s really the most noticeable character, along with Hal Holbrook’s policeman and the radio DJ. Everyone else blurs together, being treated like meatbags (particularly the women).

Listen, I feel bad not having much to talk about with this. It’s pretty straight to the point, with little attraction outside of the slasher gimmick. Everyone clearly has a good time despite the cookie-cutter plot, setting, and character archetypes. It’s a good “background” movie, if you want to be cruel, and a good comfort movie if you’re tired and just want to watch an old-school slasher. I know my local drive-in double-billed this with Madman, in what I imagine was a very fun, old-timey screening perfect for the beginning of fall. I wonder how many people came to that after the mass exodus that Society produced the previous weekend (more on that later this month!). As for this film (and this review), just like the one meme from several years ago said, “It isn’t much, but it’s honest work.”

Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: Slashers

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Hursey is a pharmacist specializing in health informatics by day, but his true passion is cinema. His current favorite films are Back to the Future, Stop Making Sense, and In the Mood for Love. He has written articles for Film East and The Physical Media Advocate, primarily examining older films through the lens of contemporary perspectives. He is usually found on Letterboxd, where he mainly writes about horror and exploitation films. You can follow him on Letterboxd or Instagram at ashursey.

Are we sure that Fred Olen Ray’s gritty, grimy, grainy film Scalps was made in 1983? Are we sure that it was directed by Fred Olen Ray? It really feels out of place in both his filmography and the time in which it was released.

By 1983, we were on the downward trajectory on the slasher trend. Having peaked around 1981, there really was nowhere else to go but down. Still, 1983 brought us plenty of interesting slashers. Sleepaway Camp. Psycho II. Mausoleum. While the plot of Scalps is not terribly interesting in and of itself, there are some aspects worth digging into (so to speak).

There is plenty of digging in Scalps. A group of college students go out to an area in the California desert to perform some archeological research. Of course, at the local convenience store, they are warned by a Native American in his best Crazy Ralph impersonation (“It’s got a death curse!”) to not disturb the ancient burial grounds found in the Black Forest (or something like that—I should take better notes). Do they listen? Of course not, because there would be no movie if they did. Eventually, one of the guys gets possessed by a Native American spirit and chaos reigns. 

It is all pretty standard 80s slasher tropes. But the look of the film feels closer to 1973 than 1983. If I did not know any better, I would have been certain that this film fell into the proto-slasher years. It was definitely made on the cheap with a reported budget of $15,000. Fred Olen Ray himself described the film as 6 Kids, a Station Wagon, and a Tent. He is not wrong.

One aspect I found interesting is how fairly unlikable this group is as a whole. I typically find it more appealing when I like the characters. I like it when a film takes its time to develop the characters and the relationships between and among the group in a slasher. Then I feel bad when they inevitably get killed. I’m not one to root for a character’s death just because they are annoying or downright hateful. Most films in the early 80s trended toward the likable character. It is interesting to see the beginning of the trend in the other direction. Another slasher from 1983, The Final Terror, feels very similar. These two films might make a decent double feature pairing, although it is not one I would be clamoring to see. Both films feel like Friday the 13th cash-ins versus a straight-up rip-off. And both groups of campers are full of individuals I would not care to be around for any period of time.

I did like Scalps more than it may seem though. I do generally like a boring slasher. This one is plenty dull as nothing happens for at least 40-45 minutes. Maybe more. One character eats Kellogg’s Raisin Bran straight out of the box. That’s the kind of product placement I’m here for. There are some really fun practical effects here. And I secretly love Native American cultural appropriation in horror films. It’s not something I’m proud of, but that old burial ground trope hooks me in every single time. Give me a cursed talisman. I even like the “Old Chief Woodenhead” segment in Creepshow 2. I would say that I would try to do better, but I just have no self-control. I’ll just have to ask for forgiveness.

Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: 21st Century Horror

Directed, written, produced, and co-scored by Zach Cregger, Weapons is a modern horror movie that people breathlessly told me that I must see. So I did. And it’s fine, but I always feel like I saw the cut that they didn’t, because I’m left with a feeling of, “Oh, that was fine.” Is this how fans of Hitchcock felt when Argento and DePalma started getting big? I really try, though, to look past my dislike of today and find something to enjoy.

Unlike so much modern horror, at least Weapons has a beginning, middle and end. So much horror from now seems to just falter to a conclusion, as if they had a really great idea for a movie, but had no idea how to close it off.

This takes place in Maybrook, Pennsylvania, a town where every child, except one, in Justine Gandy’s (Julia Garner) third-grade class has disappeared. Parents want to blame that kid, Alex (Cary Christopher). Or they want to blame Justine. But there are just no answers as school comes back. Life has to go on, but it can’t for one of the fathers, Archer (Josh Brolin), who is investigating the disappearance for himself.

As for Justine, she starts drinking and hooks up with her ex, police officer Paul Morgan (Alden Ehrenreich), as the episodic film tells us her story, Paul’s, Archer’s, and even that of her boss, Principal Marcus (Benedict Wong). At the center of it all is Alex’s aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan), who totally Burnt Offerings-ed her way into their house and, well, would you really want me to give the whole story away?

There’s some decent camerawork, a great chase at the end and a movie that mixes the narrative flow of Magnolia with the lost children bleakness of Prisoners. The part of this that I had the biggest problem with — the fake-sounding child narrator — was added after test screenings didn’t go well.

Madigan said of her role, “I think she’s a very misunderstood woman! For lack of a better term, I am the bad guy in the movie, but a girl’s just doing what she has to do to get through. She has a plan, but I don’t think she quite knew how that was going to unfold. She’s like an artist; she’s very extemporaneous. I think she’s moved around a lot. She’s had to go to different places, and when one’s not working, she’s kind of a creator of invention: “OK, I’m going to have to reach out to this family.” She’s really needy in the sense that she needs all these people; she can’t do it on her own, and I found that really intriguing about her. She manipulated a few people. And I understand that. But she has such confidence, and she’s charming in this really sick way. She just makes me sit up, Gladys. She just spoke to me.” She’s the best part of this.

Cregger gave her two different options for the backstory of Gladys. “Option one: Gladys was just a normal person using dark magic to cure her disease. She had to adopt this methodology that she uses out of necessity to keep herself alive. I won’t say any more than that. Option two: Gladys was a non-human creature who was using her bizarre makeup and wig in a poor attempt to mimic humans. That’s an interesting perspective to consider. I like that a lot.”

As for that hot dog meal, it’s a tribute to Trevor Moore from his skit “Hot Dog Timmy” on the TV show The Whitest Kids U Know. Cregger was also on that show and friends with Moore. I could totally eat that seven-dog dinner at any time.

Each October, the Unsung Horrors podcast does a month of themed movies. This year, they will once again be setting up a fundraiser to benefit Best Friends, which works to save the lives of cats and dogs across America, giving pets second chances and providing them with happy homes.

Today’s theme: 21st Century Horror

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Adam Hursey is a pharmacist specializing in health informatics by day, but his true passion is cinema. His current favorite films are Back to the Future, Stop Making Sense, and In the Mood for Love. He has written articles for Film East and The Physical Media Advocate, primarily examining older films through the lens of contemporary perspectives. He is usually found on Letterboxd, where he mainly writes about horror and exploitation films. You can follow him on Letterboxd or Instagram at ashursey.

As they say, if you want to see an example of unconditional love, lock your wife and your dog in the trunk of your car, come back in 4 hours, and see which one is happy to see you.

Indy, the canine star of Good Boy, is indeed a very good boy. His human counterpart, Todd (Shane Jensen)…not so much. In fact, he might just be the worst. On one hand, Todd is sick with some sort of serious illness that causes him to require multiple hospital visits, blood transfusions, and cough up copious amounts of blood. Wanting to get off the grid, and perhaps away from his overly concerned sister Vera (how dare she be concerned for her brother by the way!), Todd and Indy take up residence in dead Grandpa’s old, abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Grandpa is played here by Larry Fessenden, mainly seen in old VHS footage. Grandpa died mysteriously. They never found his dog Bandit. And now, night after night, Indy sees shadows moving in the corners of the room, blackened figures skulking about, and perhaps the cries of another dog in the basement.

But anytime Indy makes any sort of noise, Todd is there to silence him. The sicker Todd gets, the meaner he becomes. He kicks Indy out of the bed at the slightest inconvenience. Pushing him away when Indy tries to comfort him. Eventually banishing him from the house entirely. Still, Indy remains loyal to the very end. And beyond.

Audiences might have a difficult time fully embracing Good Boy. There will undoubtedly be comparisons to another Shudder release that pointed the camera into corners—Skinamarink. Personally, I could not make it through that movie. I tried just about everything, thinking that watching it around 4 AM in a sleepy haze in a totally dark room would bring the atmosphere needed. It did not work.

Good Boy has a bit more going on at least. Director Ben Leonberg does a nice job of bringing the camera down to the ground (Ozu style) to try to provide that dog’s eye view for the audience. And if you are a dog person, you should just be able to look into Indy’s eyes all day long (or at least for the 72-minute run time of this movie) and just melt. I know that I would rather watch Indy stare into the corner for an hour than watch that fake CGI dog in the latest iteration of Superman. 

It might also change your own perspective when your dog is barking at seemingly nothing. Maybe they are sensing something we can not. Or maybe they are just annoyingly barking at a neighbor having the audacity to walk down their street. No matter the circumstance, we need to be nice to our pets. Definitely nicer than Todd (a low bar to clear). And this month we have the opportunity to give back to some of those pets in need while watching horror movies. 

While Indy may be a good boy, our boy dog, Mr. Beauregard, is the best boy. The vet calls him a distinguished gentleman. We rescued him from a shelter back in 2014. He is always super protective of our daughter. He barks at everything and nothing. He’s just an old hound dog from Deridder, Louisiana, but we wouldn’t trade him for anything.