10/29/21
This week: One of the most criminally underrated horror-comedies of the last decade. Plus, a hot take on holiday music, two all-time-favorite Halloween episodes of nostalgia TV, and so much more.
TRENDS THIS WEEK
Youtube Mila Kunis - Hot Ones
Letterboxd DUNE
TikTok #horrortok
Spotify Adele - Easy On Me
Netflix YOU
Twitter Meta
Life & Culture
I vividly remember my mom tuning into the local news before Halloween and then warning me to be careful of the bucketloads of trick-or-treating wares I would bring home, when I was a kid. And apparently, that fear-mongering is still going on. Local news reporters are back at it, now warning parents that their kids’ candy could actually be THC. However, according to The New York Times, “such acts have not just been rare, but very close to completely undocumented.” Joel Best, a sociology professor at the University of Delaware, has been studying this media phenomenon for decades, and reported that he’s actually never seen any evidence of people giving their neighborhood children weed candy.
Alright, I know we’ve discussed SQUID GAME and its popularity here a few times now, and I have to admit to you all that I’m still slowly making my way through the series. The marbles episode wrecked me emotionally and I have yet to want to return, okay? But, as pieces of the characters’ signature look have been flying off the shelves (white slip-on Vans saw a 7,800% spike in sales, for example), we can all anticipate seeing many versions of the show’s characters out and about this weekend. However, three NYC schools reportedly banned their students from wearing the fit, citing “the potential violent messages aligned with the costume."
If you’re not in the spooky mood quite yet, please let me share with you this mesmerizing video, which should do the trick. And here’s my favorite story about a Halloween TRAILER PARK BOYS costume that was executed a little too well.
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
Film
In my eyes, the best horror films are the ones that wash their thrills and chills down with a healthy sense of humor. Whether it’s the subversive edge of GET OUT or the meta quality of the SCREAM franchise, seeing characters acknowledge the absurdity of the horrifying situations they find themselves in just makes those films all the more amusing, and frankly, truthful. For that reason, I'm lending the spotlight this weekend to Adam Wingard’s YOU’RE NEXT (trailer here), one of the most criminally underrated horror-comedies of the last decade. The film follows Erin (Sharni Vinson), college student and ostensible ingenue, who accompanies her professor boyfriend Crispin to his childhood home for his parents’ 35th wedding anniversary. As the family settles into their remote mansion in the middle of nowhere, the dysfunction jumps right off the screen. You can’t help but watch as Crispin, his insufferable siblings, and their spouses bicker their way through dinner, criticizing each other’s jobs and relationships….until a crossbow bolt crashes through the window and impales one of them in the head mid-sentence. The film instantly shifts gears into a high-octane, farcical bloodbath as a crew of masked killers descends upon the mansion and targets the family. Without giving too much away, YOU’RE NEXT doesn’t waste a single second of its lean, 94-minute runtime, as Erin strategizes against the killers and tries to stay one step ahead. Boasting some wildly inventive (and hilarious) kills and clever twists that’ll keep you hooked until the credits roll, YOU’RE NEXT could most aptly be described as the twisted love child of KNIVES OUT, SCREAM, and THE STRANGERS—in other words, an absolute blast.
—Neal Mulani, Development Assistant
TV
Today I want to talk about the much-maligned, but actually underrated genre of...Halloween episodes of TV shows. For me, the best ones are seared in my brain in a way that’s different than a typical episode. My all time favorites are THE SUITE LIFE OF ZACK AND CODY’s “The Ghost in Suite 613” and BOY MEETS WORLD’s “And Then There Was Shawn.” The former (which can be watched in its entirety on YouTube for free—you’re welcome) fully terrified me when I watched it at the ripe old age of 8. It follows Zack, Cody, Maddie, and London when they decide to stay in the rumored-to-be-haunted suite 613 after hearing an intriguing ghost story about the room. What makes the episode so legendary is the shocking twist at the end (I think the statute of limitations is up on spoilers here, but still, I won’t spoil it) and the sheer commitment to the bit by the one and only Esteban Julió Ricardo Montoya de la Rosa Ramírez, played by Adrian R'Mante. I promise you’re not too old to take 22 minutes out of your day and enjoy the nostalgia.
Speaking of which, the BOY MEETS WORLD slasher episode also scared the heck out of me as a kid. When I was maybe 14, I became obsessed with binging before it was in vogue and watched grainy versions of old TV shows that someone had the decency to upload to YouTube. Anyway, the episode in question didn’t actually premiere around Halloween, it came out on February 27, 1998. The story follows the sitcom’s cast as they’re locked in detention together, and come across a mysterious murderer. Yes, it’s as silly as it sounds, but it was so much fun.. Even through all of the thriller-style drama, the episode retains the one-liners that make the show so funny. The mix of unexpected horror with characters you’ve spent years getting to know makes this episode a true gem. You can watch the whole series on Disney+!
—Darlene Kenney, Digital Strategist
Music
People obsess over Christmas music, but, hot take, it’s really not that good. The better holiday for music? Halloween! Here are my top 3 Halloween songs:
3. DRACULA’S WEDDING by Outkast — Outkast has a long history with the otherworldly, mostly focused on aliens, but I’ve never found aliens to be very Halloween-y. On this track from THE LOVE BELOW, André 3000 leans fully into the spooky, singing from the perspective of a Dracula with butterflies in his tummy from his crush. The song is undoubtedly corny but still sweet.
2. WEREWOLF BAR MITZVAH by Jeff Richmond & Tracy Morgan — The chorus of this parody novelty song from 30 ROCK is one of the funniest things ever written: “Boys becoming men…men becoming wolves!” Thankfully it’s streaming on major platforms as part of the 30 ROCK ORIGINAL TELEVISION SOUNDTRACK, so you can, and should, play it at your Halloween party this weekend.
1. MONSTER MASH by Bobby “Boris” Pickett — It’s the most famous Halloween song for a reason. I genuinely love it for how dumb and silly it is, and in 1962, America agreed with me. Bobby “Boris” Pickett and his MONSTER MASH somehow made it to #1 on the Hot 100 the last week of October that year!
—Nolan Russell, Executive Assistant
History
Alas, spooky season is upon us. I am, unfortunately, too terrified of anything remotely scary to enjoy it, but that doesn’t stop me from being curious about the genesis of what we consider to be “horror.”
Specifically, I want to talk zombies. I used to be a hater of zombie films, but then I took a fascinating course in college and learned the history of zombies in Hollywood and their connection to American colonialism. The idea originated in Haiti, but those zombies looked very different from the ones we’re all so familiar with. Rather than blood-soaked, brain-eating immortals with decaying flesh, Haitian zombies looked just like living humans, except for their “lifeless eyes.” They were believed to be creatures devoid of soul and human agency, brought back to life often to be used as slave labor. This account was detailed by W.B. Seabrook in his 1929 book The Magic Island (warning: this is a book with a strong colonial attitude toward race). The book came out in the middle of the American occupation of Haiti, and spoke to Westerners’ lack of understanding of voodoo and black magic—and fear that the Haitians could use it against them and turn them, the white colonizers, into zombies. In fact, this fear inspired the first Hollywood zombie film, WHITE ZOMBIE (1932), in which a white American woman turns into a Zombie after planning a plantation wedding in Haiti. A similar storyline can also be seen in THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW (1988), a horror cult-favorite. The idea of zombies has quite obviously changed throughout the years, but this is a perfect example of how horror constructed on screen has always been inspired by, or deeply rooted in horror in real life.
I’ll stop there. But, this Halloweekeend, as you enjoy horror films and TV with your loved ones, I encourage you to do some fun research into the fascinating history of what we see on screen!
—Mimi Li, Development Assistant
