Women In Horror Month: Everyone Else

Welcome to Part 2 of my feature celebrating Women in Horror Month! Without much further ado about nothing, here's

THE TOP TEN FEMALE HORROR CHARACTERS 

(NON-FINAL GIRL DIVISION)

#10 Marion Crane (Psycho)

Played By: Janet Leigh

Most certainly not a Final Girl, Marion Crane is the woman who changed the game forever. Billed to be the star of the show but killed before the audience had even finished their milk duds, Marion is an enormously influential figure in the progress of modern horror. Also she had recently decided to return the money she stole so she's moral too! To a point.

#9 Carol Anne Freeling (Poltergeist, Poltergeist II: The Other Side, Poltergeist III)

Played By: Heather O'Rourke

I really can't handle how adorably creepy she is, and I am always struck by what an absolute tragedy O'Rourke's premature death was. So there's a lot of emotions coming into this, but Carol Anne is a sterling figure of modern classic horror. Everybody remembers the first time they saw Poltergeist, for better or for worse.

#8 Clarice Starling (Silence of the Lambs)

Played By: Jodie Foster

The only woman with enough sensitivity and intelligence to match wits with the infamous Hannibal Lecter. Clarice has a rough family history but an unmatched devotion to her job and saving the lives of others. She is the lynchpin that holds the entire film together. And let us never ever ever mention the Julianne Moore version.

#7 Clear Rivers (Final Destination, Final Destination 2)

Played By: Ali Larter

She welds metal sculptures, is the only one to believe the psychic boy, and manages to outrun death. At least until the sequel. But she gets to be a super cool survivor/spirit guide and hang out with Tony Todd so I'm still pretty jealous.

#6 Gale Wathers (Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4)

Played By: Courteney Cox

I've loved Friends for as long as forever, but Courteney Cox's role in the Scream franchise is the one I most indelibly associate with her. This feisty, assertive reporter with the heart of gold and a suitcase full of one-liners rampages her way across the screen with an energy and verve that Monica Geller, love her though I do, just can't match.

#5 Dr. Katherine McMichaels (From Beyond)

Played By: Barbara Crampton

A surprisingly complex figure for a movie that features copious amounts of slime and a leather S&M outfit, Dr. McMichaels is driven to madness by her ambition and selfish egotism. She is one of many bricks in the argument that B movies have much more going on beneath the surface than your average horror viewer might think.

#4 Sophie (100 Bloody Acres)

Played By: Anna McGahan

With two hot Aussies wrapped around her finger, Sophie is living the life. And after being captured by a pair of bumbling brothers in the Outback, she is smart enough to continue living that life. She's not perfect, but she's just trying to get along any way she knows how. She's scrappy, resourceful, and spunky and I love her.

#3 Moira O'Hara (American Horror Story: Murder House)

Played By: Frances Conroy, Alexandra Breckenridge

Moira is one of the most poignant characters in the entire series. In a season packed with one-dimensionally evil, twisted ghosts, Moira stands supreme as a complex figure. Neither good nor evil, she is merely tragically imprisoned in the site of her murder and infidelity. Supremely resonant. Also young Moira is hot as Hades.

#2 Melanie Daniels (The Birds)

Played By: Tippi Hedren

I've talked about her plenty of times before, but Melanie Daniels is a force to be reckoned with. At first she seems every bit the young, flighty socialite, but as we explore her relationship with Mitch and his mother, her character expands into an entire universe of subtlety and range. I hope more people will come to side with me on loving The Birds far more than the also great but less complex Psycho.

#1 Ángela Vidal ([REC], [REC] 2)

Played By: Manuela Velasco

She's cute and bubbly. She's raw and determined. She's a charming fluff news reporter. And she's the first to whip off her patent leather jacket to fashion a tourniquet. Ángela is the inimitable heart of the [REC] franchise (something the director of [REC] 3 seemed to have been unaware of - stupid, stupid man) and Velasco's performance gets deeper and deeper every time.

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Horror on Party Beach

For our podcast episode about this very film, please click here.

Hello! The time has come for my big announcement!

I just got hired to write for an indie publication called CinemaBeach. It's unpaid, but there are some press perks and it's a very exciting opportunity.

I will be running a horror column called Killer Waves and reviewing new indie horror releases, which means I get to go to the Laemmle Theatre in Beverly Hills (and the nearby Sprinkles Cupcake ATM) a lot more often.

I will of course keep posting here. I like to review every movie I see and CinemaBeach has no use for mainstream movie reviews.

However, when I write a post for the website, I will link to it here and consider my work done for the day. One post a day is my goal and I don't think anybody can complain if that post is in a slightly different format.

My first official review in my new capacity is of the Australian import 100 Bloody Acres, and please check it out. I'm very excited.

Note: Because the format is different on CinemaBeach and doesn't include ratings, I will post my usual information here along with a link to the article.

100 Bloody Acres

Year: 2013

Director: Cameron Cairnes

Cast: Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, Anna McGahan

Run Time: 1 hour 31 minutes

MPAA Rating: UR

Leave it to the Aussies to find the fun in bloody mayhem. 100 Bloody Acres is filled with wicked glee ,whether it’s presenting a severed hand, a vat of carnage, or a local radio jingle. Taking place in a small town in the Australian Outback, the film follows a group of three teenagers who are on their way to a music festival. When their car breaks down (as vehicles in these types of movies are wont to do), they are given a lift by Reg Morgan (Damon Herriman) of Morgan Organic, a local blood and bone fertilizer company.

Unfortunately, times have been tough for Reg and his brother Lindsay (Angus Sampson) and they have been forced to cut corners in order to make ends meet. Lately Reg has been culling new blood and bone material by appropriating still warm bodies from roadside wrecks. He is in the middle of delivering a bloody metalhead when the hitchhikers discover the corpse and the brothers are faced with a tough decision.

On one hand, they could threaten them to keep their mouths shut and send them on their merry way.

On the other, they could really use fresh fertilizer for a big delivery this afternoon.

What ensues are hearty laughs, geysers of blood, and a comic examination of the interactions between country folk and city slickers. This horror comedy is decidedly more funny than scary (the filmmakers were more keen on making you cringe instead of shriek), but the humor is so devilish that the dearth of scare sequences is not to be lamented. Some would even go so far as to call this film a straight comedy, but the humor is hung on the framework of movies like Saw or Hostel, and in fact could not have existed without their influence. As it happens, the audience is too busy laughing to discuss the intricacies of genre.

A standout performance is Damon Herriman, whose Reg is simple, polite to a fault (even when taping someone’s mouth shut), and too scared of his big brother to raise a stink when it comes to his alternative business methods. Cute as a puppy dog, Herriman somehow manages to make Reg an audience favorite despite some of his more morally reprehensible actions. His inherent goodness hangs in the balance of a delightfully subtle portrayal for which the filmmakers should be immensely grateful. Drinking a juice box while covered in blood is a naturally funny concept. But with Herriman behind the wheel, it is not only a silly gag but an important character moment.

Also a standout is Anna McGahan’s Sophie, a strong woman whose role is key in subverting the historically misogynistic slant of the torture genre that the film is riffing on. There is a particularly vicious case of slut shaming at the middle mark that would make any feminist cringe, but the characters that view Sophie’s sexuality as immoral get their comeuppance in the end. In fact, a diatribe against her actions is explicitly detrimental to one character’s survival. It reflects very well on the filmmakers that they not only take a stance on a hot button issue, but avoid bludgeoning the audience with a “moral”. It’s obvious that we should root for her character, and we do. That’s all there is to it, no need to make a fuss.

One of the biggest strengths of the movie (besides Sophie being one tough sheila) is that every character’s actions logically follow from their circumstances and personality. Albeit that logic is somewhat twisted, but it makes perfect sense in the heightened cinematic reality of the film. There is a complete lack of dumb horror movie character behavior and, though mistakes are made, the setups are unforced and avoid the common “Don’t go in the basement, stupid!” pitfalls.

Regrettably, sometimes Australia-specific jokes or concepts will fall flat for American audiences (John Butler? Australia Day?), but in general the humor is broad enough for international audiences to enjoy and sharp enough that even if one doesn’t understand a particular cultural reference, it frequently adds to the absurdity rather than detracting from the audience’s understanding. But that is beside the point, because the film is necessarily Australian. Many plot points hinge on social, economical, and environmental structures unique to the country. For example, many horror movies accentuate the protagonist’s predicament by placing her in a far-off location where nobody can hear her scream – the mountains, a cabin in the woods, and sometimes even space.

In Australia, every single place is like that.

The movie is far from flawless, but the humor is satisfying and rich, the gore is suitably realistic and campy for the bloodthirsty horror faithful, and the underlying message is sincere but not too preachy. 100 Bloody Acres is a must-see for fans of comedy and horror alike, although more squeamish audience members may wish to sit this one out.

TL;DR: Bloody good fun, with a uniquely feminist and frequently hilarious riff on the backwoods torture genre.

Rating: 8/10

Should I Spend Money on This? It might be hard to catch it in a theater, but it's a worthy film to catch on demand for a night in.

Word Count: 908