🤡
Plenty of horror out there finds the protagonists struggling to make it through and come out the other end alive and intact, which, of course, isn’t always the case. Dismemberment, madness, the necessity of years of therapy following a harrowing experience are often the life survivors have to look forward to after escaping their ordeal.
Well, notwithstanding years of therapy, occasionally we find protagonists who not only manage to escape the terror, but end up fighting back. In this week’s Calamity on Cinema, we celebrate those brave and resourceful protagonists who turn the tables around on their predators, focusing exclusively on women characters. In this short, aptly titled Good for Her! list, we follow three women who fail to be crushed by the horrors they experience, opting instead to crush the horrors themselves.
We begin our journey in celebration of Halloween on All Hallow’s Eve with Haunt, a careless joyride into and through a sick and twisted Halloween maze. Upon exiting the maze, we join Deena as she takes on a last minute babysitting gig in Night of the Reaper. Unfortunately, we know all about horror movies and babysitters, yes? Or do we? When the carnage ends, we travel back in time to 1719, to follow Naru, a Comanche girl wanting to prove herself worthy of being a hunter. She gains that opportunity when a Predator arrives to hunt the humans and animals in search for the greatest challenge.
Three spectacular cases, three spectacular films, especially when considering you’re not left feeling devoid of life after watching a bunch of protagonists struggle to survive. As such, as a whole we give the movies on this list a collective one clown, in accord with 🤡 JEST: The Calamity Content Rating System. This is quite the honor, considering there are three films, and they cannot each be one clown, can they? Well no, but more on this in the review below.
We hope you enjoy the show!
Find the list on Letterboxd here:
The order of the films to watch them this weekend is Haunt on Friday, Halloween; Night of the Reaper, Saturday; and Prey on Sunday. This order notwithstanding, we’re going to dive into Night of the Reaper first, as it is our least favorite on the list, though still good fun to watch.
night of the reaper
We love a good stereotypical slasher horror, don’t we? Hell, we even love the bad ones, particularly when we can so liberally hate on them. However, if you’ve seen one slasher, you’ve pretty much seen most of them. This is a tired trope by which the horror genre in general receives a fair amount of backlash. Slashers, hauntings, possession, psychological … ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, name your preference, they’re all frozen desert and the flavors don’t vary that much. Usually.
Night of the Reaper starts off in typical babysitter/slasher style where you are introduced to all the characters, there’s some emotionally charged drama rising, and the stage is set for the murdering to begin. At that point, things twist quite thoroughly, and you’re no longer watching the stereotypical slasher horror. The film takes a few more turns, which include a number of filler scenes aimed at raising suspense, and then you’re out the other side and the movie’s over.
The novel twist is a delightful find that is tempered by the unnecessary length of the film—it drags on toward the end. Here’s what I think would have greatly improved this film: remove the damned villain’s soliloquy. There wasn’t much of one, but do we really need a fucking explanation and cartoonish character resolve of near-triumph from the bad guy? All of that shit could have been pieced together by the police and main character given the wealth of evidence they’re left with.
No matter. It’s done, and despite how the film carries on in the third quarter, Night of the Reaper remains a fun watch. Half way through and at the end, you can say with full confidence, “Good for her!”
Continued after the break
on sale now
The gift of time is, for many, an incredible gift indeed. Unless, of course, it is not a gift at all and arrives with a cost in excess of what one may be willing to pay …A tale from the Odds ‘n’ Endings Boutique.
haunt
What can we say about Haunt? Here’s another stereotypical slasher—character introductions, a little of drama, the set up for the murdering; but when the murdering begins, it is legitimately terrifying. Plenty of slashers exist where they’re gross, or they’re weird, or they’re stupid, or they’re one hell of a ride, but in all cases, they’re not scary. There’s an abstraction: you can empathize with the characters, but in most cases, the likelihood you’d find yourself in similar situations is near non-existent.
Haunt, however, places you squarely in a situation many enjoy during the Halloween holiday: a maze. We do love our haunted houses and mazes, don’t we? These kinds of attractions are appealing because you can have all the scares and none of the risk. Guy with the chainsaw? Fake. Ghostface coming at you with a knife? Fake. Room full of hanging bodies? Fake. You suspend disbelief for a few precious moments to immerse yourself in the experience and exit the maze no worse for wear, except perhaps a little hoarse, if you’re the type who scares and screams easily.
But what if those things weren’t fake, and not just used as props but used to terrorize, maim, and then murder you? Welcome to Haunt, where you’re invited to participate in one hell of a realistic maze of terror, where there is no cover charge, but please leave your keys and phones at the door. It’s a darkly colorful ride into and out of a nightmare, and when you think you’ve left it behind—assuming you survive, of course—the nightmare follows. Do, however, recall that this is on a Good For Her! list! At the end of the film, you can sit back, applaud the main character, and say with full confidence, “Good for her!”
prey
In typical Predator style, a lone hunter from one of the Predator clans arrives on earth to find a worthy opponent. After run-ins with a snake, a bear, some trappers, and a Comanche war chief, the Predator meets their match in a Comanche girl.
Naru, the girl in question, has been raised as a healer, and a mighty fine healer she makes. This, however, is not what Naru wants for herself. She dreams of hunting and sets out to make a name for herself as a hunter, to which end she fails miserably on a number of occasions.
But not when it matters most! In typical Predator style, the human prey uses their skills of observation and strategy to overcome one of the universe’s most powerful beings. Naru succeeds where others failed, making the great plains just a little bit safer for her tribe. For the time being.
Prey is a wonderful story, beautifully filmed, well characterized, and interesting, even if we have seen this Predator/Prey story unfold countless times before. And more than all that, when the credits are rolling, you can sit back and with full confidence say “Good for her!”
Three films, one theme, and one hell of a thrilling weekend! If you only watch one film on this list this weekend, watch Haunt in celebration of Halloween. Otherwise, we do hope you enjoy watching all three and celebrating our heroines’ successes in the end.
Please, for the love of all that is unholy and calamitous in this world, please let us know what you think of this content! The buttons below will each take you to a respective survey consisting of two to three questions. Your opinions will help shape the future of Backstage at the Calamity.