The Projector #60: Horror Orphans (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

First off, apologies for the interruption in service last week. I just got swamped. Really, we’re all pretty swamped or otherwise getting drawn away right now. It’s just that time of year. But we’re lining up some fun bonus episodes and another audio commentary to drop in here soon. Plus, there’s a fun episode coming to the main feed that we’ve talked about doing for a long time and finally got around to (with help from a special guest from a very popular podcast).

One episode we’re almost certainly going to do, if we can ever lock down a format, is an episode with horror movie recommendations in time for Halloween. We keep kicking around different ideas in part because it’s no secret that some of us are a little more tolerant of the genre’s grodier entries than others. Which raises a question: Is there any other genre whose content so widely alienates otherwise adventurous moviegoers?

It’s understandable. It’s okay not to want to be scared, and while there are many horror films that rely more on creepiness than scares, the fear of getting scared (there has to be a word for that) can make it easy to want to avoid the whole genre. Horror’s my default genre. I’ve often thought that if I had a long stretch of uninterrupted viewing I’d be perfectly happy switching back and forth between the Criterion Channel and Shudder, and when I finally complete this big project I’ve been working on I plan to spend some time catching up with the horror films from this year I’ve missed. (So far that list includes Relic, La Llorona, She Dies Tomorrow, Blood Quantum, and Possessor. Please leave suggestions below.) I’m married to a horror-averse person, however, which means I usually have to pursue this interest on my own time.

Again, I can’t hold that against my wife. I get it. It’s not for everyone. But I’m hard-pressed to think of another genre that excludes so many. It’s the movie equivalent of “I like every kind of music but country.” That’s much worse, though, because it’s an uninformed value judgment versus someone just understanding their limits. So some of us end up watching horror alone. At least for now: I asked my daughter if she’d watch scary movies with me when she got older. I got a hesitant “Maybe.” That’ll have to do.

Before you go, we hope you’re enjoying our latest episode on Miranda July’s Kajillionaire. And if you want some reading material, well, check this out:

• Can science fiction imagine a better future? Our own Tasha Robinson explores the question at Polygon.

• Here’s two other NPS host-written pieces: Keith Phipps on whether or not it’s ever smart to remake Hitchcock for The Ringer, and ranking all the Universal monster movies for Vulture.

• For Esquire, Chris Nashawaty revisited 1983’s Battle of the Bonds, in which an aging Roger Moore squared off against an even more rapidly aging Sean Connery. And when you’re done with that, read Nashawaty on Scorsese’s After Hours.

• What separates docuseries like The Vow from reality shows past? Kathryn VanArendonk considers the question for Vulture.

• At Mel, Tim Grierson talked to Tim Robbins about his now-hard-to-find, maybe-more-relevant-than-ever political satire Bob Roberts.

• For ScreenCrush, Matt Singer looks back at a fateful, flop-filled 1995 weekend.

• To prep for a future episode, you might want to read this joint profile of Spike Lee and David Byrne at Esquire. And also read this Vulture conversation between Byrne and What the Constitution Means to Me’s Heidi Schreck.

• At Vulture, Bilge Ebiri wrote about the “liberating beauty” of the Final Destination movies.

• At Polygon, Jesse Hassenger compares/contrasts the latest from Sofia Coppola and Woody Allen.

• Excited about Mank? We are. And we also enjoyed this Mark Harris conversation with David Fincher.

• At Vulture, Alison Willmore offers an oral history of Requiem for a Dream.

• At Reverse Shot, Nick Pinkerton reflects on the rise, fall, and rise (?) of the drive-in.

• There is only one good ending to past Next Picture Show pick Clue, Andrew Nickerson argues at Polygon.