We can forgive the Criterion Channel for failing yet again to provide the much desired Boston Crime collection, since it’s Halloween season and that simply wouldn’t make sense. No, today I’m going to complain about their failure to provide a New England Horror collection. The Dunwich Horror, Jaws, The Witch, The Haunting, and I suppose one could make room for some adaptations of that Maine guy’s novels.
I get it. Criterion is a New York company and New Yorkers are allergic to Boston. I won’t dwell on this further; let’s get to the October lineup. It’s scary.
We’ll start with Highway Horror. I have to admire Criterion’s commitment to a broad range of quality here. For every Duel, there’s a trashy looking Cohen and Tate. Maybe I’ll finally watch Maximum Overdrive? I seem to have logged it once on Letterboxd but I don’t remember it. If you’re looking to explore more highway horror films that didn’t make it in, check out Ryûhei Kitamura’s Downrange.
Continuing with the October theme, it’s Made-for-TV Terror. This is pretty short and feels like a throw-in: Duel again, and Salem’s Lot. (See? New England Horror is right there!) Someone’s Watching Me! is a John Carpenter made-for-TV movie, so I’m there for that, and Dark Night of the Scarecrow has potential. I take it back, this is better than a throw-in for the rare John Carpenter alone. OK, not rare, it’s on Tubi.
The third horror collection of the month is Unwelcome Guests. Superb collection; do take the time to see Chabrol’s La Cérémonie if you haven’t seen it. I’m in for You’re Next and The Gift and oh hey Play Misty for Me, since I’ve been on a 70s Eastwood kick the last few months. To save y’all a search, the Funny Games in this collection is the original, not the remake. Man, it’d be cool to have both but perhaps that’s too similar to the recent remake collection.
We close the horror themed collections out with Possessions and I think this is my favorite of them all. It’s gotten a lot easier to see Possession in the last couple of years; if you haven’t, you should prioritize it now. My October is ridiculously busy but I may try and see all of these, at least the ones that are new to me. And since Hope both left me somewhat cold and thrilled me with Na Hong-jin’s talent, I’m absolutely going to make time for The Wailing. Nice timing on Criterion’s part.
The remaining top-line collection is Marc Maron’s Adventures in Moviegoing. Great list of movies here; his interest in movies as puzzles to consider over time resonates with me. Veronika Voss is not my favorite Fassbinder but it’s really good; Wim Wenders doing Patricia Highsmith with The American Friend is great.
OK, I lied a little bit. Shifting to the Director collections, I see three more horror-flavored collections. The first is Dario Argento, which includes only the middle of the Three Mothers trilogy. It’s not necessary to see Suspiria before you see Inferno but really you should. The rest of the collection focused on his giallos, plus one little treat for the perceptive: Two Evil Eyes is a collaboration with George Romero.
Next, and even better than the Possession collection, we have Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Kurosawa has been moving up on my list of greatest living directors in the last year or so, since S. browbeat me into watching some of his J-horror, and we’re both very excited about this one. I’m gonna call out Serpent’s Path (1998) in particular; it’s a brilliant thriller. I haven’t seen Eyes of the Spider, the companion to Serpent’s Path, and I really want to. And the 2024 Serpent’s Path remake? This is an embarrassment of riches. Man, and I guess I have no excuse not to finally see Pulse.
Finally, I know nothing about Bruce LaBruce except what I just read. Queercore camp horror? Sure, I’ll check that out.
In non-horror director collections, we have Mike De Leon, a Philippine director. I have not seen a ton of cinema from there, but I am always up for film inspired by anti-authoritarian sentiment, and De Leon apparently hated the Marcos regime.
That covers the new collections. On to premieres and rediscoveries. Two of those this month, both of which look good. The Last One for the Road is an Italian road movie, which makes me think of Il Sorpasso, which makes me want to see it. And By Hook or by Crook is exactly the kind of small scale movie I love discovering through the Channel.
In Criterion Collection Editions, they’re taking some time to market the Complete Kubrick set with a few Kubricks. Maybe I’ll finally see Eyes Wide Shut? The others are horror classics; I definitely want to take time for the Dead Ringers commentary from Cronenberg. Which I could have watched on my old DVD any time, but have not. Shush.
American Independents brings us The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is such a good horror movie, and Party Girl, which is good but not horror. In Hollywood Hits, Criterion has The Social Network (no doubt timed to align with the upcoming sequel’s theatrical release) and The Keep. Guys, I love you, but that doesn’t count as a hit. And while I don’t usually talk about shorts a lot, I adore Hong Kong hopping vampire movies so I am absolutely going to watch The Last Jiangshi.
Good month. Being able to build your collections around a genre like horror probably makes it easier, but I like what they’ve done here a ton.