Friday Night Frights – 25/08/17

Welcome to the second instalment of ‘Friday Night Frights‘!  I had a few questions in relation to the inaugural post – the most common was ‘why do you recommend movies you haven’t even seen?’.  It went on to say about that being a lazy writing practice.  Yes.  Yes it is.  But, if people can review movies based on their trailers without actually seeing the movies themselves, why can’t I recommend movies and shows based on articles, trailers and tidbits of information?  Surely an open-minded approach is preferable over a close-minded one?

Well, I will continue regardless.  So, without further ado, here we go with this weeks offerings!

 

In a similar vein to my last post, ‘The Fog (1980)‘ is a title that I watched when I was about six years old.  I never initially knew the title as I remember watching it on Channel 4 late at night but I missed the start.  It was a few years later when I stumbled upon another late-night airing that I found out it’s name.  I’ve seen it loads over the years (I have it on DVD somewhere) but, admittedly, it’s been a few years since my last viewing.  The film popped into my head on Sunday evening when we were coming back from London and there was a ton of fog rolling in from the sea as we approached Bristol.  I told the kids about this flick and Talia claimed she wanted to watch it but Seren, being the more logical and sensitive of the two, declined.  I know it’s dated and probably doesn’t hold up very well but it is an iconic movie from my childhood.

 

Sticking with the meteorological terminology, ‘The Mist‘ is one of my favourite adaptations of Stephen King’s work.  Even though it does deviate from the source material quite a bit, the ending (which I will not spoil) does have an amazing twist that is both believable and devastating which mirrors real life to balance out the fantasy elements of the story.  Another Frank Darabont work of art that is eerily beautiful and creepily cool.  With the poor reviews I’ve seen for the recent TV adaptation, I highly recommend you check this movie out if you haven’t already.  And if you already have…well, another watch won’t hurt, eh?

 

Last, but by no means least, we have ‘Hush‘.  I spied this on Netflix and eventually got around to watching it.  I have to say, this movie is a much needed breath of fresh air in the saturated market of ‘found footage’ movies or zombie/vampire/other ungodly creature movies.  The very idea is terrifying – a deaf woman all on her own out in the sticks.  What’s more harrowing is the social commentary this places on society with the fact that not all crimes, violent acts or any other life changing event has a set purpose.  Not everything that happens has a meaning.  Let’s use the ‘Joker’ from the ‘Batman’ universe as an example here (a segue permitted by the ‘Hush’ title, bear with me): the ‘Joker’ represents chaos.  An unpredictable psychopath that has no ties, no weaknesses, no motivation other than his psychological need [desire?] and no calculated path as to what his next move is.

This is exactly what our nameless villain represents here.  Chaos for chaos’ sake.  And our heroine represents order.  Her disability becomes her strength in that her awareness is tested time and again.  Every glimmer of hope shattered and we feel her anguish and frustration.  I can’t say too much without spoiling things but another hint at the chaos the guy has left in his wake is alluded to on the crossbow – keep your eye out for the tally marks.

As always, if you have any suggestions for other movies or comments regarding the above drpp them below!

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—The Trying Scotsman has a ‘Don’t Be A Dick’ policy that forbids, but is not limited to, personal insults toward anyone, hate speech, and trolling.—