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Book Review: ‘The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle’ by Alexandra West

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1990s Teen Horror Cycle

We tend to think on the 90s with a nostalgic fondness – everything seemed just a little bit simpler back then. It was a period of economic growth, technological developments came fast but still had that reliable analog flair, and pop culture was finding its footing with a dependable younger market.

Looking back, some of the 1990s film offerings have become a bit of a sore spot among horror fans when stacked against heavy-hitters like The Silence of the Lambs and Seven. But author Alexandra West has come out with a reminder of all the ways that the 1990s teen horror cycle was a strong and important development for the genre.

As a co-host on the brilliant The Faculty of Horror podcast, writer for several publications (including her first book, Films of the New French Extremity: Visceral Horror and National Identity), and lecturer on film and theatre in schools across Ontario, Quebec, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Alexandra West knows her shit.

Her newest book, The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula, delves into a dissection of the height of 1990s horror genre offerings – including Scream, The Craft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Fear, The Faculty, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Idle Hands, Final Destination, and many more.

With an academic’s eye and a horror lover’s heart, West discusses how the 1990s teen horror cycle was both a product of and a reaction to its time.

The Faculty

In a post-Regan era, youth in America were stomping down the conservative-driven push towards an “American Dream” that no longer applied or appealed to them. The Cold War had come to a close and kids across the country “Smelled Like Teen Spirit” while the Riot Grrrl movement spread as quickly as the LA Riots. As West says, “America no longer had a looming destructive force, but only Americans themselves”.

The formulaic slashers of the 70s and 80s were petering out – gold standards like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees just didn’t carry the same weight. Studios realized that female moviegoers were accountable for half – if not more – of their audience. If horror was going to continue to be a marketable genre, it had to adapt to articulate the anxieties, fears, and values of its audience through the new Final Girl.

West explains, “These female characters were no longer just smart, kind, levelheaded or lucky, as they had been in previous horror film incarnations of Final Girls; they were navigating their own complex moralities in a society that no longer knew what to value itself”.

Scream

Wes Craven’s Scream, for example, found a perfect New Final Girl in Sidney Prescott. While the “rules” of Scream (and, then, the horror genre as a whole) state that premarital sex is basically a death sentence, Sidney’s journey is one of female empowerment – it’s far more progressive and sex positive. As West says, “In the 1990s a Final Girl could have consensual sex but also destroy those who do her wrong”.

The teens of 90s horror were held accountable for the sins of their parents and communities – they were facing villains with a deeply personal vendetta. Gone were the days of a hulking stranger; the real danger was the anonymous bona fide murderer in their own neighborhood.

Scream

West outlines how intertextuality shaped the new rules of horror and how a rising audience base with a disposable income redirected the way that films were marketed.

A movie was more than entertainment – it was a consumable product that could sell its music, fashion, and lifestyle along with its home video release.

These hot new trends in terror were made accessible to those outside the genre by prominently featuring popular, familiar faces as seen on TV (I mean, just look at the poster designs).

I Know What You Did Last Summer

But beneath the mainstream, shiny surface of the 1990s teen horror cycle, the films themselves were tackling attitudes towards sexuality, popularity, social acceptance, and the often ignored weight of survival. Franchises explored the consequences of violence and the lasting impact of those traumatic events.

West lovingly works through thematically linked films to fairly present their lasting values and honest shortcomings (for example, racial tokenism and how Scary Movie fought against those tropes by framing intertextuality as comedic parody).

She taps in to the studio’s involvement in each film in a way that helps to explain how these films came to be while offering some insight on the state of the industry today.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The 1990s Teen Horror Cycle: Final Girls and a New Hollywood Formula shakes out the puzzle pieces of 1990s teen-focused horror and artfully arranges them to form a cohesive picture – one that looks dramatically different from what’s just shown on the box.

If you’ve ever celebrated films like Scream while lamenting relentless horror franchises, if you have any opinions about Final Girls, or if you simply find yourself wanting something more out of those 90s nostalgic movie nights, you need to read this book.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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