Movie Morsels, Pt. 9

PENDA'S FEN (1974): Another All the Haunts Be Ours folk horror selection. An enormously sanctimonious teenager comes to terms with his sexuality while at the same time grappling with the wild and unruly pagan past lurking just beneath Britain's staid veneer. I liked it; it has that distinctive early '70s BBC flavor.

ROBIN REDBREAST (1970): Well-suited to be watched as a double feature with Penda's Fen, this is an interesting precursor to The Wicker Man in which a woman moves to a rural English village and discovers that the villagers have certain, uh, customs to which she has becomes an unwitting party.

DAUGHTERS OF SATAN (1972): Fun fact: This was the last movie Tom Selleck filmed before his mustache became sentient!

DARK WATERS (1993): I was hitting that All the Haunts Be Ours boxset pretty hard that week. This is folk horror about a bunch of evil nuns in an evil island convent. Honestly, I found the plot confusing, but the imagery was pretty cool. I would definitely recommend this for people who like creepy Catholic stuff, which I assume is everyone who has ever been in a Catholic church. Damn, those places are creepy, right? This movie is what I hoped The Nun would be. 

AIRHEADS (1994): Brendan Fraser, Adam Sandler, and Steve Buscemi (!) play a band that accidentally takes a radio DJ hostage in order to have their demo played on the air. It definitely had that Wayne's World feel about it, which is not to say that the jokes are anywhere near Wayne's World's record-setting levels of quotability. I guess it's worth a watch though. Also, this was kind of a good look for Steve Buscemi, but also who does he look like? Gibby Haynes? 

REALITY BITES (1994): I didn't think this would hold up but it did. Janeane Garofalo seems cooler and more beautiful than ever. Her hair! Her thrift store dresses! Her lunchbox purses! Probably the most dated thing about the movie is how relegated to the sidelines the one gay character is -- but I suppose at least his big challenge is coming out to his family and not, like, getting AIDS (it was still the '90s, though, so of course a different character has an AIDS scare). I would show this as a double featch with fellow '90s grungy rom-dram (romantic...dramedy?) Singles, which I'm also planning to rewatch. 

HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (2016): Our Flag Means Death has us on a bit of a Taika Waititi streak over here at Casa de Spooky, plus seeing a screening of Zulawski's Possession (1981) in theaters means that I'm still kinda obsessed with Sam Neill, so we had to give this a go. It's a cute, funny, touching Kiwi tale of a foster kid who ends up on the run with his gruff foster dad in an Odd Couple-meets-Thelma & Louise situation. Just as quirky and kind-hearted as you've likely come to expect from Mr. Waititi.

THE BLACK PHONE (2021): It felt like most of the people I saw this with were disappointed, but I enjoyed it. Just keep in mind that it's kind of a rape revenge flick, but with kids, and without the rape (although child molestation is heavily hinted at, nothing is shown). I hope that's not a spoiler? Oh, I just realized you could show this with Reality Bites for a really bizarre Ethan Hawke double feature. 

CRY-BABY (1990): Traci Lords is so good in this. She's all winged eyeliner, red lipstick, pencil skirts and sneers. 

SERIAL MOM (1994): And while we were drinking from the John Waters well, I had to revisit my personal favorite entry in his '90s oeuvre. One word: PUSSYWILLOW.

HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982): I like this movie a little more with every rewatch. It's basically a comfort movie at this point. Is it my favorite non-sequel Halloween sequel? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it is.

HALLOWEEN II (1981): I have never been crazy about this movie on its own merits but I've watched it so many times now that I've developed a begrudging affection for it nonetheless. I will say that I really, really wish Hill & Carpenter hadn't introduced the whole Laurie-is-Michael's-sister element into the franchise -- can you imagine how free the sequels would have been to go absolutely anywhere without that constraint?! Alas. BUT at least we get to see a nurse literally and figuratively pop her clogs! That hot tub death is unnecessarily mean though. Oh, and by the way? "Mr. Sandman" does not fit tonally or thematically. There, I said it. I SAID WHAT I SAID!