There's a whole chapter on horror-comedies that I haven't gotten to yet, although there have already been passing references to "old dark house" comedies like THE CAT AND THE CANARY, Polanski's FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, etc.
So What Are you Reading?: Generations
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There's a whole chapter on horror-comedies that I haven't gotten to yet, although there have already been passing references to "old dark house" comedies like THE CAT AND THE CANARY, Polanski's FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS, etc.
I was thinking of Young Frankenstein, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, and the ever-popular Student Bodies. As well as older stuff like A Comedy of Terrors, The Ghost Breakers, &c.
If you like horror comedies, watch Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.
Great movie. Shaun of the dead is also a recommendation
I suspect some of those will be covered in the upcoming chapter on horror-comedies.
It's hard for me to see Ghostbusters as horror for the same reason it's hard for me to see Buffy the Vampire Slayer as horror. Horror implies a sense of helplessness and, well, terror in the face of the monstrous or supernatural, but the Ghostbusters and Buffy's Scooby Gang don't run or hide from the monsters, they hunt them down and overcome them. Okay, there are a lot of horror movies where the heroes (or in the '50s, the police or military called in by the heroes) destroy the monsters in the climax, but it's usually after a fair amount of death and despair and fleeing in terror. I see Buffy as more of a superhero series, and I guess you could make the case that the Ghostbusters qualify too, in a way.
In particular, what's always been intriguing to me about Ghostbusters is how it treats the paranormal as simply a scientific problem to solve -- and something as mundane as an exterminator business.
In particular, what's always been intriguing to me about Ghostbusters is how it treats the paranormal as simply a scientific problem to solve -- and something as mundane as an exterminator business.
Just posted my review of TNG: The Battle of Betazed by Susan Kearney & Charlotte Douglas. Enjoyed it for the most part, it did a satisfying job of resolving a dangling plot thread from DS9.
Currently finishing up Making It So by Sir Patrick Stewart. Really enjoying it, I love how frank and open he is about his life.
Also currently making my way through Star Wars: The High Republic graphic novels. Just about finished Phase II at the moment. Haven't read any of the prose novels yet, but may have to get going on those in the near future.
Currently finishing up Making It So by Sir Patrick Stewart. Really enjoying it, I love how frank and open he is about his life.
Also currently making my way through Star Wars: The High Republic graphic novels. Just about finished Phase II at the moment. Haven't read any of the prose novels yet, but may have to get going on those in the near future.
Funny story. Back before the 2016 GHOSTBUSTERS reboot came out, an indignant fan cried foul because (gasp!) they had turned GHOSTBUSTERS into a comedy! Baffled, I pointed out that the the original movie was very much a comedy, starring comics from Saturday Night Live, just like the reboot.
Turns out that, after comparing notes, this guy had last seen GHOSTBUSTERS when he was just a kid, who had had found it terrifying: the scary ghost librarian, the demon-dogs, etc. He was genuinely surprised to discover that it had been a comedy all along, because he remembered it scaring the heck out of him back when he was seven!
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I will note that the Sisko "autobiography" ends in . . .
. . . a note from Benny Russell. Set in a monospaced font, to look typewritten. And it raises the age-old (or at least since "Far Beyond the Stars") question: speaking strictly in-universe, which reality is senior? Benny's reality in which Sisko is a figment of his imagination, or Sisko's reality in which Benny is a figment of his imagination?
I prefer the kind of horror movies that are only scary after the second martini. And I'm a lifelong teetotaler.
Horror movies are my comfort food. They evoke cherished memories of watching "Nightmare Theater" every Friday night, devouring Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine every month, and going to to drive-in double features with my dad back in the sixties and seventies.
Read the horror-comedy chapter last night. A brisk but fairly comprehensive survey ranging the silent era, to the Abbott & Costello movies, to the Mel Brooks movies, to 80s stuff like Ghostbusters and Gremlins, and more recent fare like Shaun of the Dead and What We Do in the Shadows.
The chapter makes the point that, in terms of subject matter, the comedies tend to lag behind the more serious horror films, since the audience has to learn the cliches and conventions before you can spoof them.
Firefly coup de grâce by una McCormack
Hmm. Any new Mad Amos story from ADF?
I'm afraid not. Just double-checked the Table of Contents and there's no story by Foster.
A trio of books for Christmas
Badfinger On Track - Every Album, Every Song
Renaissance On Track - Every Album, Every Song
The Solo Beatles On Track 1969-1980 - Every Album, Every Song
Badfinger On Track - Every Album, Every Song
Renaissance On Track - Every Album, Every Song
The Solo Beatles On Track 1969-1980 - Every Album, Every Song
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