Horror Fest Day One: Feast / Zim / X-Files

I just wrapped up a back to back to back freak out fest, starting with Feast, a movie I hadn't seen at all heading into this marathon.

Feast is funny, and very violent. This is the kind of movie that plays gleefully with conventions, but not in a way that's grating or obnoxious. It also knows when to pile on the humour and when to pile on the grue, which it delivers in abundance. Also, there's a certain chaotic effect to the sheer number of people killed off in the first fifteen minutes of the movie that leaves you uncertain of what the hell John Gulager is going to do. That and you get to see Jason Mewes get his face ripped off. And what a Henry Rollins battering ram would look like, but only after putting him in pink sweat pants.

The monsters are used sparingly, rarely giving you a good look until near the end, and the disgusting transformation of Judah Frielander's character really is both sickening and hilarious.

Feast is also wise not to overstay its welcome, running less than ninety minutes of actual film, and when it starts to drag, things pick up quickly. This is definitely worth checking out, and if you watched this season of Project Greenlight, you'll be amazed at how well this turned out.

After that, we watched Invader Zim episode "Dark Harvest", which accomplishes in 12 minutes what many ninety minute movies strain to do, which create, sustain, and pay off suspense. Animated suspense, no less. And it's still replete with Jhonen Vasquez humour. The basic plot is that Zim is afraid he will be discovered for not having human organs, so he reasons that the more organs he has, the more human he is. Dib tries desperately to stop Zim, and then finally to not fall victim to him, bringing about the most suspensful use of a bird since Hitchcock.

After that we watched what may be the most disturbing episode of the X-Files to ever air: "Die Hand Die Verlezt", a show from season two that was so creepy that Fox refused to air it again for almost five years. In addition to dealing with devil worship, the episode hits on teenage suicide, pedophilia, snakes eating humans, and a pig dissection that comes to life.

The episode itself is about a small town in New Hampshire whose town leaders worship the devil, but in recent years have taken their power for granted, only to have the Devil appear to enact vengeance for their transgressions. And Mulder and Scully are right in the middle of it. I'd honestly forgotten just how disturbing it is to watch, and I can only imagine how people felt in 1994/5 when it first aired.

I'm going to try to keep this going and watch The Wicker Man, because we're in the midst of the twilight hours and after that episode I'm really quite prepared to go the next step in strange and transgressive film experience, so if you don't get the review right away, I promise it'll be up tomorrow before the next batch pops up.