Horror october #18

(Somewhat belated due to AWESOME Nick Cave concert yesterday)

Another classic: Sleepaway Camp is one of those movies I have to rewatch regularly, because it's just so fucking weird. I'm still not sure if it's in a good way or a bad way.

I'm pretty sure you couldn't make this movie today, which is probably a good thing. The actual young teens (star Felissa Rose was 14) playing actual young teens in not-very-appropriate situations, the camp staff who openly lust after their charges without anyone raising an eyebrow, the wild overacting, the queerness that's so overt that everyone missed it in 1983, THAT twist at the end ... And at the same time, the twist works (maybe just once, but that one time it's brilliant), the kills are inventive, and the sheer oddness of it does create a pretty disturbing atmosphere.

There are a couple of sequels which actually aren't half-bad, starring Bruce Springsteen's little sister if you'll believe that. But the original ... it's something else entirely.

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Horror october #19

Sweet, Sweet Lonely Girl, whose name is Adele, moves to small town to help care for her agoraphobic aunt who won't leave her room, befriends and then falls for local girl Beth who suggests she shouldn't spend her life locked inside an old mansion taking care of a relative she doesn't even like, and so she starts to neglect her duties and skimp on the shopping and medicine for the ungrateful old bag...

Very short at 76 minutes, especially since the ending comes very abruptly and I'm not sure it works. But up until then it's got a really nice gothic mood, washed-out New England winter and smelly shuttered rooms, lots of little details that makes me want to rewatch and look for clues, and a growing sense of unease and unreliability that seems to be going somewhere really good until it... doesn't. A pity. 15 more minutes and this could have been really neat.

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