Have you ever encountered a well-made film but don’t know how to handle it? This is my situation with the horror film documentary Nightmares in Red, White, and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film.
This is not a bad documentary at all. The production values are solid, the interview subjects are strong choices, and the presentation of horror film history in the context of American politics, social movements, and economics is a strong one. My issue is my own knowledge of the subject.
Director Andrew Monument films Joseph Maddrey’s adaptation of his own book. The 200 page book from McFarland and Co. is condensed to a 96 minute documentary that seems to zip through space and time in its quest to be everything for everyone. By the one minute mark, we’ve already jumped from Edison’s Frankenstein in 1910 to the silent people-driven horrors of the 1920s. Just when it feels like you’re going to get into something really compelling, the film chases after the next trend.
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I’ll be forward with you. I have not read all of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels. I read the first three a few years back and quickly lost interest. It’s not the style of prose I’m drawn to.
I will say, however, her ability to create characters, environments, and engaging conflict is strong. It’s why I’ve been drawn so much to the films. I’ve seen them all in theaters and enjoyed myself at all of them. Sure, some are better than others, but there was something to the world created onscreen. Hogwarts is gorgeous, the official school knitwear is beautifully made, and the music is always good.
On this, the week of the final Harry Potter film release, I figured it would be a good time to share a few thoughts on each of the films. Then I thought I could have much more fun by ranking the films from best to worst without any real knowledge of whether the adaptations are faithful or not. This is the ranking guide for a Harry Potter non-fan drawn into the world.
Let’s get going.
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Ryan here, with a guest post on what I believe to be the Top 3 classic horror villains.
Although 9 times out of 10 you will find that it is the villain that ends up losing out to the “hero” of a franchise, it is safe to say that the villains are arguably the more interesting characters in that they have a reason for being so dark and twisted inside. The hero is simply doing all they can to protect the world or, in the case of horror movies, themselves.
So in no particular order here are the top 3 classic horror villains.
Freddy Krueger
A Tribute to Freddy Krueger (no embed, NSFW)
One of the reasons that Freddy is such an awesome villain is due to his ability to frighten the hell out of the audience whilst also throwing in a bit of humour along with it. He is certainly one sick individual but one that audiences fell in love with when he first appeared in 1984. Whilst it might not be best to talk about his portrayal by Jackie Earle Haley in the remake it is safe to say that the person that made Freddy famous, Robert Englund is one of the most respected and recognised villain actors on the planet.
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