The ‘scary stuff’ this Halloween
Upgrade your viewing pleasure with horror and award-winning films, writes Bianca Coleman
WITH Halloween next week, it’s the perfect time to have a look at some scary stuff you can watch on the small screen.
When it comes to most television, we base a lot of our viewing on what other people have to say; The Haunting Of Hill House is a case in point. Everything I’ve seen and read about it thus far – including comments from real live friends – is that it’s the most frightening thing anyone has ever seen and it’s been suggested watching it might cause a person to soil their undergarments. It’s implied this is a recommendation because that’s what we want from a horror story, right?
While I’ve been tidying up my watch lists which have one or two annoying episode loose ends (wreaks havoc with my neatness obsession), I’ve not yet allowed myself to be drawn into this 10-part series on Netflix. However, I tend to be somewhat sceptical… how terrifying can it be, really?
While I sit here judging everyone I’m quite aware that I might have to eat my words at some point – which I will gladly do if it lives up to all its hype and I look forward to having to change my pants.
The Haunting Of Hill House – which contains metaphors of author Shirley Jackson’s life from her 1959 Gothic novel which is considered one of the best literary ghost stories published during the 20th century – follows five siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country.
Now adults, they are forced back together in the face of tragedy and must finally confront the ghosts of their past. Some of those ghosts still lurk in their minds, while others may actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House. The ensemble cast includes Oscar winner Timothy Hutton, Carla Gugino and Henry Thomas. Mike Flanagan, a veteran of the horror genre, created the series.
Over on Showmax, you can check out Raw, A Ghost Story and a new season of Channel Zero, which was a big winner for the platform this time last year.
Raw shocked Cannes in 2016, winning the FIPRESCI Critics Prize, then became the talk of Toronto, where audiences reportedly walked out, threw up and fainted (the exact order is not mentioned). Again, I can’t help being sceptical and think Canadians are all a bit soft, but am ready to stand corrected.
Written and directed by Julia Ducournau and winner of multiple awards, Raw was the fourth highestranked foreign film and the fifth highest-ranked first feature in Indiewire’s Critics Poll last year.
The New York Times described it as the story of “a scared teenager with the world’s worst eating disorder”, Screen Daily called it “a feminist take on body horror”, Indiewire labelled it “David Cronenberg for teen feminists” and Rolling Stone hailed
EAT, SLEEP, BBQ
(Food Network, Monday at 9pm): it as “a modern horror masterpiece… a clever feminist parable – and a contender for best horror movie for the decade”.
The praise for A Ghost Story is equally high, with Rolling Stone calling it “one of the most moving films of the year… Hypnotic and haunting… You’ve never seen anything like it”.
After premiering at Sundance,
A Ghost Story won 11 international awards and was named one of the top 10 independent films last year by the National Board of Review in America.
Oscar winner Casey Affleck stars as a recently deceased man, now a ghost shrouded in a white sheet, while Oscar nominee Rooney Mara plays his grieving widow.
Allegedly, this particular ghostly trope occurs when people die while changing their duvet covers.
For the bingers, there is Channel Zero: The No-End House, the second
Chef and restaurant owner Rashad Jones, winner of Guy’s Big Project, is on a mission to find the best barbecue in America and some down-home authentic meats.
He takes viewers to people who have a passion for the craft. Jones explores brisket, ribs, pulled pork, and sandwiches among many other types of dishes. instalment of the acclaimed anthology series, where each season is based on a “creepypasta” – a term for horror-related legends passed around the internet.
The season centres on Margot (Amy Forsyth from The Path) and Jules (Aisha Dee from The Bold Type – both series on Showmax), two friends who visit an eerie house of horrors with a series of disturbing rooms, each more petrifying than the last. Upon returning home, Margot discovers everything has changed (cue spinechilling music).
Channel Zero: The No-End House has a rare 100% critics rating and an 87% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus is its “central mystery is stronger and scarier than Channel Zero’s first, solidifying its status as one of TV’s scariest horror offerings”.
Pass the pumpkin spiced popcorn and bring on the fear.
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
(M-Net 101, Wednesday at 11pm):
YOU’RE only ever as good as your last season and the fifth one for this series was oh so terribly tedious.
It’s little surprise then that Netflix announced season seven would be the last.
In the season six premiere, Suzanne (Uzo Aduba) is having hallucinations combined with being the first to be interviewed about the riot and murders in season five.