Adventures in Movies: A Wounded Fawn/The Leech
We get in the creepy Christmas spirit with an unhinged holiday horror and an unconventional arthouse offering from an indie genre icon.
A Wounded Fawn
EPISODE SUMMARY
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We look at a holiday horror movie that is laugh-out-loud funny before becoming incredibly dark. Plus, an arthouse horror film that deals with toxic masculinity and Greek mythology. This week is holiday cheer, lost souls, and full of fury.
ABOUT THE EPISODE:
Jenna Ortega has been all over the place since Wednesday debuted on Netflix. Now was probably the best time to drop a teaser for the next installment in the Scream franchise.We also talk about our memories of one of the greatest film composers of all time. Angelo Badalamenti may be best known for his work with David Lynch. But he worked on a number of projects, including working with David Bowie and composing the opening theme for the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Arthouse horror is difficult to define. Everyone will give you a different answer. Making it harder to pin down what kind of movies fall in the category is the wide range of examples people will give. From the works of Lynch to grounded fare like The Witch to over-the-top giallo, we all have our own idea of arthouse horror. (It is definitely not “elevated horror”.)
A Wounded Fawn literally begins in the art world with talks of Greek mythology and high-dollar bidding. This is not what makes it arthouse, however. Its focus on characters and abstract storytelling is what may cause some to feel that it belongs in that category. The latest film from Travis Stevens also embraces horror tropes to provide a look that is familiar and original at the same time.
Toxic masculinity is a theme addressed in many movies today. A Wounded Fawn does so in a way that promotes talk without undermining the issue. This is due to the strong performances of the cast and excellent writing that tells an unconventional but satisfying story.
The Leech
As scary as Christmas horror can be, there is usually a sense of fun that comes with it. The Leech (starring Jeremy Gardner and Graham Skipper) certainly has a degree of fun with its ridiculous characters and laugh-out-loud moments. The jokes come fast and furious in a holiday horror movie that is about finding the true meaning of Christmas.
And then it gets very dark. Along with being a movie about the holidays, it is a character study that follows a person’s gradual descent.
The Leech was so effective in its storytelling that we had completely different opinions on the context of the film but still came to the same conclusion.
Plus, join us for a look at Genre of the Future.
You can watch A Wounded Fawn on Shudder and rent The Leech on VOD.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
Last week, we talked about a horror movie on Netflix that has some great performances and little else and a Dutch thriller that takes one of the most nonsensical turns of the year.
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