Now Scream This: 10 Horror Blindspots We Finally Got Around to Seeing

(Welcome to Now Scream This, a column where horror experts Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato tell you what scary, spooky, and spine-tingling movies are streaming and where you can watch them.)

Matt: Chris and I write “Now Scream This” with our audience in mind (that’s you!), but I’m eternally grateful for my own continued horror education. While I’d someday adore consideration as a “master,” I’m still but a mere student. Chris’ recommendations have pointed me towards future favorites and enjoyable first-time watches. All this to say, yes Chris. I finally watched In The Mouth Of Madness. You were right. That John Carpenter sure has a future in this Hollywood business.

Chris: This was tough for me. Not because I’ve seen everything there is to see, but rather because I often neglect doing the work to seek out stuff I haven’t seen. I should do it more often, I know, I know. But more often than not, I find myself returning to titles I’ve already seen, as if I’m seeking out comfort food. But there are still some blindspots I stumble upon from time to time, and thank god for that, or else I wouldn’t have much to contribute this week. 

The Uncanny

Now Streaming on Amazon Prime

Matt: Cats are assholes. They knock objects off high shelves, drink all your milk, and are waiting for you to croak so they can nibble away your flesh until only bones remain. No movie understands this more than The Uncanny, a 1970s horror anthology about, you guessed it, evil cats. Cats who murder on behalf of deceased grannies. Cats who paw at shrunken children after the usage of black magic. Cats who cause havoc on film sets. Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, and other faces of classic cinema unite to reveal the sinister nature of feline foes and their nine inhuman lives. Still not as horrifying as Cats (2019), but nonetheless a delightfully feisty period horror piece that maximizes the “gimmicky” concept beyond fur-brained expectations.

Chris: I’ve heard much about this film, and seen several screenshots of one of the cats. But I have yet to see it for myself. 

Blood Feast

Now Streaming on Criterion Channel

Matt: My appreciation of special effects has, no doubt, influenced my favorite genres of horror—the gnarlier, the better. Especially when displaying the technical wizardry of cadaver connoisseurs. Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast is a slice of splattergore history, which accomplishes visual disgust with 1960s technology that still disturbs to this day. Saw, Hostel, and so many other subgenre-specific meat grinders are indebted to Blood Feast. A film that gets in and out with trimmed-fat precision at roughly sixty minutes in length, which is a dream in today’s Hollywood system where Fantasy Island can approach almost two infuriating hours.

Chris: This movie made me want to take a shower. 

In The Mouth Of Madness

Now Streaming on Shudder

Matt: Chris, this took far too long. My apologies. Maybe my mind was thrown by “literary horror,” given how In The Mouth Of Madness tracks how one author’s fantasy becomes Sam Neill’s hellish reality. In John Carpenter I should always trust. As puzzle pieces fit together and tentacles slither under doorways, insanity becomes a universal language. Carpenter’s reliance on the unbelievable suspends us in a constant state of guessing that ends with a pitch-perfect shot of Neill’s character cackling like a crazed loon, watching the cinematic adaptation of his projected mental deterioration. In less words than more, oh hell yeah.

Chris: One of my all-time favorite Carpenter flicks. I can rewatch this again and again, and never get sick of it. 

Deep Red

Now Streaming on Shudder and Tubi

Matt: I’m no professed Dario Argento completionist. I’d say I’m a bit of an amateur. Deep Red is the Argento title that pushes me to keep churning through the Italian maestro’s filmography, so I offer it as a starting point for those in my same position. Maybe not outright horror as compared to Suspiria, but in my opinion, far more accomplished and suspenseful and haunting. Plus, Goblin’s “Profondo Rosso” musical score is some of the best cinematic accompaniment you can find. That first “Mad Puppet” track gets the juices flowing, and sounds even better on vinyl. Apologies, my hipster is showing, but I couldn’t give less of a bother.

Chris: Prime Argento right here. So much blood, and style, and also a puppet-doll-thing. 

The Wicker Man

Now Streaming on Netflix

Matt: Those who’ve read my genre-related content around /Film might already have indulged my “Sunny Scary” deep-dive into all things ray-blasted and horrifying. The Wicker Man, in these terms, is a classic adopter of the idea that terror can profess itself in broad daylight just as maliciously as under the shadow of nightfall. Between ceremonial pastels, floral decorum, and confidential cultism, scenes are nothing but festive springtime glee as our mind perceives overt seasonal clues. Of course, we witness the blossoming of exquisite horror as “The Wicker Man” reveals its purpose that’s been under our noses—hidden by the comforts of normalcy, where fear can best lay in wait.

Chris: Sadly, Matt did not pick the Wicker Man remake, where Nic Cage dresses up like a bear and punches a woman, and then gets stung by bees. 

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