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A weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves |
Yet another month has come to an end which means a television edition of the Thursday Movie Picks series. And since it's October, we're asked to pick horror series. Not my strongest suit, I must say, as I'm not really fond of the genre and therefore I don't usually watch these series. But thanks to Netflix, I can join with some great series.
The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)
After an au pair’s tragic death (Tahirah Sharif), Henry (Henry Thomas) hires a young American nanny, Danny (Victoria Pedretti), to care for his orphaned niece Flora () and nephew Miles () who reside at Bly Manor. What seems to be a dream job for Danny soon becomes a nightmare as the house is haunted. Another terrific series from Mike Flanagan, this is an atmospheric, unsettling and very emotional ghost story as well as a romance. And the cast is downright terrific.
The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
A group of siblings who grew up in what would become the most famous haunted house in the country are forced to confront the ghosts of their past. Easily my favourite series of 2018 as it was dark, scary and very atmospheric. I felt invested in the characters and the acting was great, especially from Kate Siegel and Carla Gugino.
Santa Clarita Diet (2017-2019)
Sheila (Drew Barrymore) and Joel (Timothy Olyphant) are an ordinary married couple who work as realtors while trying to raise a teenaged daughter (Liv Hewson). Their lives are turned upside down when Sheila starts craving raw meat, specifically human flesh. There's the perfect mix of real-life, weird and dark in this show, and I absolutely love it. And I hate Netflix so fucking much for cancelling it.
I haven’t seen my of these but I wouldn’t mind seeing all of these.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'd love them.
DeleteOmg - I know of Santa Clarita Diet but had NO idea what it was actually about! I bailed on The Haunting of Hill House, I couldn't handle the jump scares!
ReplyDeleteYou really have to see it! It is so fun and Timothy Olyphant is so dreamy.
DeleteSanta Clarita is the only one I haven't seen, but I have a few friends that loved it. I enjoyed Bly and Hill House.
ReplyDeletePlease check it out, it's great. It's a shame Netflix decided to cancel it.
DeleteI've heard of all three but not having Netflix haven't seen any of them. The first one sounds like something I wouldn't mind trying but even with Drew Barrymore in it you couldn't pay me to watch the last.
ReplyDeleteI inadvertently did a theme within the theme. I took a too quick look at the theme and thought it had to be holiday TV horror and dug up three that I'd seen long ago. Turns out there isn't a big field of choices to choose from for that! I enjoyed my first and it has an amazing cast for a TV movie (I believe it received a theatrical release in Europe at the time) but the other two are here strictly to fill out spaces. They are BAD movies.
Home for the Holidays (1972)-Wealthy autocratic Benjamin Morgan (Walter Brennan), frail and seriously ill, insists his four daughters-Alex (Eleanor Parker), Freddie (Jessica Walter), Jo (Jill Haworth) and Chris (Sally Field) (he had wanted boys)-come home for Christmas to his enormous but isolated mansion. Estranged over their shared belief that Benjamin drove their mother to suicide they reluctantly return to be informed by their father that he suspects his second wife, Elizabeth (Julie Harris) is now trying to kill him. Shortly afterwards the girls learn that their stepmother was accused of killing her first husband and they begin to fall prey to a killer dressed in a yellow rain slicker!
What would normally be a rather standard, though well directed, scare flick is elevated by the fact that the cast is ridiculously overqualified for this sort of endeavor-Sally Field (2 Oscars), Walter Brennan (3 Oscars), Julie Harris (5 Tonys and 2 Oscar nominations), Eleanor Parker (3 Oscar nominations) and TV stalwart Jessica Walter (a handful of Emmy nominations and a win)!
A Vacation in Hell (1979)-When their excursion boat sinks four women including Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick) and Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon) and a man (Michael Brandon) who have been holidaying at an exotic vacation resort must fight for survival after they become lost in a remote jungle while being stalked by a murderous native tribe. Terrible Movie of the Week incredibly was directed by the same guy who helmed Roots!
The Midnight Hour (1985)-In the New England town of Pitchfork Cove a group of rather stupid teens (though the actors playing them are at minimum in their mid to late 20’s) pinch some costumes and artifacts from the local museum on Halloween and chant in the graveyard calling forth all manner of ghosts, zombies and other ghouls who they spend the rest of the movie running away from like the idiots they are.
And yet the last one is my favourite. It's not as dumb as it sounds.
DeleteSanta Clarita Diet is the only one I haven't seen. I think when it came out I was experiencing zombie fatigue(with how badly the Walking Dead was going) so I never picked this up.
ReplyDeleteCan't blame you. The Walking Dead ruined the zombie genre for me.
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