Eugene weekly., October 26, 2017, Page 18, Image 18

by Sean Hanson
on any list of great horror films. But The Thing edges out the
competition with its amorphous monster, its unsettling blend
of claustrophobia and paranoia, and the impossible puzzle at
its core: Who is the monster by the final scene?
FROM BEYOND (1986)
This low-budget queasy-magenta nightmare is the most
quietly influential horror flick of the ’80s, with a monster
that still gets copied in blockbuster films and games. The
best part? Writer-director Stuart Gordon stretched the
definition of “adaptation” even further than Kubrick, turn-
THE SHINING (1980)
which makes it timelier than ever. (If you’re ready for this,
make sure you watch the 79-minute unrated version.)
First, a bit of movie lore: Stanley Kubrick, notorious for
taking liberties with his adaptations, never actually finished
Stephen King’s 1977 bestseller before he began work on
The Shining. And good on him. He replaced topiaries with
hedge mazes, a roque mallet with an axe and an apologetic
abuser who eventually proves he’s a worthy dad (a Mary
Sue for King, as he wormed his way through the dark tunnel
of alco-logic) with a patriarch who remains cruel to the bit-
ter end (a Mary Sue for Kubrick, the grade-A asshole who
never grew tired of tormenting his actors). In doing so, he
created the quintessential American horror film, a churning,
elegant beast that hasn’t aged a day in 37 years.
SESSION 9 (2001)
If film lists were wine menus, Session 9 copy would
read: “Pairs well with The Shining.” It’s another tale of
potentially supernatural forces driving men insane, but the
real kicker is the atmosphere. Director Brad Anderson shot
on location at Danvers State Mental Hospital, a real aban-
doned asylum, and the horrors of the past seep into every
frame. A wheelchair parked before a picture window, the
stainless steel hydrotherapy tubs, the sheen of standing
water, the cracked paint of cartoon animals, the gleaming
lobotomy pick — all found objects, all tools that Anderson
uses to get under your skin. ■
ing the title and most basic premise of an entirely sexless
H.P. Lovecraft story (look it up: the man was absolutely
terrified of sex and probably died a virgin) into the best
possible psychosexual monster movie.
INSIDE (2007)
THE THING (1982)
John Carpenter’s 1978-1982 hot streak would make
Alfred Hitchcock quiver with envy: Halloween, The Fog and
The Thing, all equally great and pretty much interchangeable
Fair warning: You should probably avoid this French
shocker unless you’re already a jaded horror junkie. And
even if you are, this will make you squirm — not because
of the gore, although there’s quite a bit of that, but because
the filmmakers fully commit to their premise, in which a
woman sets out to steal an expectant mother’s baby … a
few hours before he’s due. Far more than an effective
home-invasion thriller, the directors have spun a demented
political allegory about the nationalist tensions in France,
Sean Hanson co-owns the Broadway Metro, writes about film for Front
Row Central, and would probably go up the staircase.
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October 26, 2017 • eugeneweekly.com