2023 Genre Movie Calendar (Part 4 of 4)
Need help in finding movies to check out? The 2023 Genre Movie Calendar provides titles that fit with that particular month. They may be new to you or familiar gems, but they are all worth watching.
If you missed Part 1, covering January through March, then be sure to catch up here.
Part 2, covering April through June, can be found here.
Part 3, covering July through September, can be found here.
OCTOBER
THE OUTWATERS
Part of this list exists with that initial flourish of “wanting to try new things.” That desire to be more adventurous in movie watching and open to whatever comes your way. Festival films occupy a lot of that space. The outpouring of goodwill and buzz can cause expectations to skyrocket. THE OUTWATERS does come off, from afar, as a work that could fall into a trap. Thanks to one of the most offbeat styles and unexpected journeys, it may push people over the edge. Either singing its praises or calling it a bunch of hot air. In some cases, divisiveness just leads to better press.
Out in the middle of the desert, an intrepid filmmaker, two friends, and a musician set out to make a music video. Everything starts out okay, but slowly and surely things shift and the group finds themselves on a descent through hell that may also be some big cosmic joke. What sets THE OUTWATERS apart from the rest of the found footage rabble is one of the most intense visual and laudatory experiences in a long time. Imagine if THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT made audience members question not just what they were seeing, but also their own deteriorating sanity and you get what makes this one an unmissable new release.
ALTERNATE PICK: GHOSTWATCH
For every fad or trend that pops up in the film world, there lies an early origin point that most people forget about. On the British side of the world, GHOSTWATCH holds that designation when it comes to fiction passing itself off as the real thing. It's not a mockumentary. It's not found footage. And yet, this all comes across as the starting line for what those works will become in the horror and supernatural field. Imagine if you will, turning the TV on and finding yourself viewing a special where the supernatural is revealed not only to be very natural but could be taking place down the street at this very moment.
Bursting with authenticity, GHOSTWATCH may have only aired on television once, but that's all it needed to become the stuff of legend. Casting actual TV presenters Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, and Mike Smith helped create the illusion of live television for millions of unexpected viewers across the UK. Attempting to capture some type of supernatural phenomenon, the on-scene reporters of a television program find themselves dealing with more than they bargained for.
By today's standards it's not tremendously frightening, but this 1992 film still contains a lot of clever and devious sequences that let you imagine what it would have been like to see this yourself. Saying "there isn't anything like it" is an understatement. ALIEN AUTOPSY is in the same realm, but far too chintzy. The WNUF HALLOWEEN SPECIAL is certainly attempting to capture the spirit, but since that and the throwback vibe are its entire reason for being, it's still a ways off. That in and of itself is the sign of why GHOSTWATCH is such a singular viewing experience. There will always be imitators, but nothing compares to the "real" thing.
NOVEMBER
YOU'RE NEXT
If you live in the United States, November means Thanksgiving. For the rest of the world, it's a countdown to mounting dread stemming from seeing family in December. The perfect solution for that period is finding a movie that gets the dread. One that understands the desire to see family members be taken out one by one before a conversation gets out of control. YOU’RE NEXT has just what the doctor ordered! Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett's home invasion film keeps things moving by twisting expectations and genre conventions in fun ways. Ones that even work upon subsequent viewings.
The classic "family gets together with their significant others" isn't a new mold by a long shot. Add in home invaders wearing sheep and goat masks, and that's another thing entirely. Even then, it's just scratching the surface of what's going on within YOU’RE NEXT. Besides centering on a truly badass heroine (Sharni Vinson), the movie excels at moving all the pieces into just the right place. You've got grisly deaths, numerous betrayals, and a family that isn't afraid to call it as they see it. The exact same template that helped make Wingard and Barrett's THE GUEST a cult classic in its own right. Something just clicks when the duo gets down to the basics of letting the blood flow in extremely gratifying ways.
ALTERNATE PICK: BLOOD RAGE
For more traditional (loosely used here) fare, there's BLOOD RAGE. The only Thanksgiving Twins Slasher film starring Louise Lasser that you didn't think you needed in your life. While it certainly has gained a following in the past decade (mostly thanks to a physical release from Arrow Video), that doesn't mean you can't easily welcome more converts. The story of a homicidal maniac and his Plain Jane brother, the film goes off the rails early and never attempts to get back on track. There's excellent gore and quotable lines ("That's not cranberry sauce").
BLOOD RAGE shouldn't work and, in many regards, it doesn't. There's stilted acting. Scenes don't know when to stop. Direction is all over the place. It never detracts from the overall important aspect that this movie rules both due to and despite its flaws. For every bad decision, there is a moment to celebrate or cheer. The FX work is effective and gnarly in a few instances. The performance of Mark Soper as Todd/Terry is surprisingly over-the-top and nuanced between the two brothers. Yet it's Lasser who steals any scene she's in, as a mother who realizes all too late that she's made a terrible mistake and then utterly unravels for 90 minutes. After all, what's Thanksgiving for if not having an existential crisis?
DECEMBER
ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE
When it comes to Christmas movies, everyone wants something new. An instant classic of which no one has seen before. In terms of genre mashups, the best of the recent offerings is a little film called ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE. A Christmas zombie comedy musical. There's not anything else that manages to compete with it. The songs are catchy ("Hollywood Ending" & "Turning My Life Around" are perfection ). The gore is plentiful and doled out at a decent pace. Yet the real winner that ties it all together is Anna and her friends. There's a sense of camaraderie and easy-flowing conversations that heighten the comedy, while also adding tension when it looks like someone may be a goner.
The story is relatively basic, a holiday talent show unfolds while a zombie uprising comes out of nowhere and people survive or die, yet that ends up helping the pieces around it. Pacing is key, allowing the songs to never feel as if they're mucking up the works. Remove them and the house of cards would still be standing. The film is just that well-made and sound all around. Not many movies come along that are unassuming and sweet before staging an equally sweet dance routine, all while humanity crumbles in the background. ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE does it without breaking a sweat.
ALTERNATE PICK: DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS
Back in the day life was simple. Children of the ‘80s grew up watching HOME ALONE in the ‘90s and by the time they were adults they wished they had something more for them. Call it bloodlust or desire for something that hit a little bit harder, it turns out that "adult HOME ALONE" actually was released a year before Christopher Columbus' hit, in the form of Rene Manzor's DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS.
In traditional holiday fare, a young precocious child (Alain Lalanne) is left alone at home while someone tries to get into his house and he has to survive with his smarts and a bunch of homemade doo-das. Only, rather than a burglar being the main villain, here is a deranged homeless man turned unemployed mall Santa (Patrick Floersheim) who has had a break from reality. Needless to say, not everyone (or every animal, for that matter) will make it through the night alive.
As simple as the film may sound, everything in DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS is cranked up to eleven. The lead kid is an ‘80s action aficionado who recreates moments from his favorite movies with unfettered imagination. On top of this, he's a genius. But smarts only do so much against raw strength, making the hulking Santa here a real threat. With a surprising amount of tension, set pieces galore, and one terrifying holiday ditty by Bonnie Tyler, this needs to be in all yearly rotations.
DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS (aka DEADLY GAMES) is currently streaming on Shudder.
