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You Owe Me Awe: Underappreciated Horror Performances

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From Boris Karloff’s Monster to Bela Lugosi’s Dracula and Robert Englund’s Freddy to Anthony Hopkins’ Dr. Lecter, the genres finest portrayals of villains have always been and shall forever remain lauded. With that in mind, I felt it was time to shed some light on a handful of the most underappreciated, yet memorable evil-doers that haven’t always gotten the recognition that they so clearly deserve.

Robert De Niro as Frankenstein’s Monster (Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, 1994)

Seems a bit odd to have one of the greatest American actors in cinematic history on this list, but De Niro’s performance in Francis Ford Coppola’s epic was one for the ages. De Niro ran the gamut of emotions that Frankenstein’s Monster was intended to evoke — disgust, sympathy, anger and fear — but it was not the inhuman strength displayed ripping the heart from the chest of Dr. Frankenstein’s beloved or even the struggle to find acceptance as with Karloff’s Monster, but rather the dialogue that left viewers frozen in wide-eyed horror.

“Not things learned so much as things…remembered.”

When asking Kenneth Branagh’s doctor for “a companion. A female,” De Niro indicated that “I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine, and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one,” then head quivering with delicious enjoyment, “I will indulge the other.” Later, when Frankenstein looked to abandon the very task he had promised, De Niro assured “If you deny me my wedding night. I will be with you on yours.”

De Niro’s Monster left no doubt that he kept his promises.

de-niroEverett McGill as Reverend Lester Lowe (Silver Bullet, 1985)

Though Silver Bullet’s jaw-dropping performance belongs to Kent Broadhurst, if you’re a regular reader of iHorror, you are fully aware of my affinity for not only this Stephen King adaptation, but for McGill’s portrayal of Reverend Lowe. How far a man would go to protect himself, even when he begged of the horror, “Let it end, dear God. Let it end.”

From the reveal to a car chase that ended with McGill rocking an eye-patch and menacing five o’clock shadow, we learned that little Marty was going to have a terrible accident.

“Well Jane…little brothers sometimes do that.”

Eat your heart out, Negan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUBvcS5KEYc

Dan O’Herlihy as Conal Cochran (Halloween III: Season of the Witch, 1983)

Understated performances can feel the most unsettling, and that was indisputable in the case of O’Herlihy as Cochran. True, some knocked (and still knock) the third installment of Halloween for a villain not named Michael Myers, but the calm, composed exterior of Cochran was never rattled, even when things were falling apart around him.

Rather than panic as his Stonehenge plot unraveled, O’Herlihy simply offered something of a mocked golf clap. And his little spiel directed at a fettered Dr. Challis (Tom Atkins) told the tale of the festival of Samhain, when “the hills ran red with the blood of animals and children.” His gleeful “trick on the children” was cemented with every ounce of seething disdain that crept from his mouth at little ones “begging for candy.”

Evil intent with a dash of impunity. The very definition of horror.

Tom Noonan as Francis Dollarhyde (Manhunter, 1986)

It has to be said, I have always had an odd fascination, dare I say obsession with the Thomas Harris character who always takes a backseat to Hannibal the Cannibal.

While Red Dragon allowed greater opportunity for Ralph Fiennes to explore not only what created but continued to affect the Tooth Fairy, Noonan was precisely what I saw in my mind’s eye when reading Harris’ novel of the same name. The power, a life lived in imagination and dreams, and the God-like manner and horror of his Becoming.

The scene which encapsulated the essence of Dollarhyde (and left viewers ghastly white) came with Freddy Lounds (Stephen Lang) glued to an antique wheel chair and threatened with having his eyelids stapled to his forehead. With intense anger pulsating through every pore, Noonan’s delivery of “You owe me AWE” was enough to cause collective incontinence in the healthiest of audiences.

Just a few of my favorites. Tell us about yours.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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