Girl Meets Freak
Countries of Origin
Movie Discussion: Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
Girl Meets Context: Throughout the month of June we will be watching Ozploitation films from the 1970s and 1980s. This week we tackle a metaphysical mystery film about a group of schoolgirls in 1900s Australia who go for a Valentine’s Day picnic at the local landmark Hanging Rock, a volcanic protrusion in the landscape, but several … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Russell Mulcahy’s Razorback (1984)
Girl Meets Context: Throughout the month of June we will be watching Ozploitation films from the 1970s and 1980s. We begin with this giant-boar-run-amok cult gem. Directed by Russell Mulcahy, who went on to direct the beloved fantasy/sci-fi hybrid Highlander (and to launch both Showtime’s American adaptation of Queer As Folk and MTV’s current hit show Teen Wolf), the film … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977)
Girl Meets Context: Throughout the month of May we will be watching 1970s films about cults and conspiracies – from covens of witches to New Age self-help groups to neo-Pagans. We end the month with this classic supernatural giallo, often considered to be director Argento’s signature masterpiece. The film is the first entry in Argento’s “Three … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man (1973)
Girl Meets Context: Throughout the month of May we will be watching 1970s films about cults and conspiracies – from covens of witches to New Age self-help groups to neo-Pagans. This week we visit with one of the most notorious British horror films of all time. Sgt. Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives at the remote Scottish island … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: David Cronenberg’s The Brood (1979)
Girl Meets Context: Throughout the month of May we will be watching 1970s films about cults and conspiracies – from covens of witches to New Age self-help groups to neo-Pagans. This week we discuss one of Cronenberg’s early efforts – in fact, The Brood is often considered to be the director’s first “classic” film. The movie … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Ken Russell’s The Devils (1971)
Girl Meets Context: Throughout the month of May we will be watching 1970s films about cults and conspiracies – from covens of witches to New Age self-help groups to neo-Pagans. This week we watched Ken Russell’s controversial art film. Based both on Aldous Huxley’s 1952 book The Devils of Loudun and the subsequent John Whiting play from … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Neil Marshall’s The Descent (2005)
Girl Meets Context: It’s Indie Horror Month, where we cover some of the best original and independent horror movies to be released in the last few years. The Descent is the second feature by British director Neil Marshall (after 2002′s Dog Soldiers). In the film, a group of six friends (most of them Brits) go on a caving … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Faye Jackson’s Strigoi (2009)
Girl Meets Context: It’s Indie Horror Month, where we cover some of the best original and independent horror movies to be released in the last few years. Strigoi is British director Faye Jackson’s feature-length debut. It concerns Vlad (Cătălin Paraschiv), a med school dropout who has returned to the Romanian village of his childhood after spending time … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Jack Clayton’s The Innocents (1961)
Girl Meets Context: This is the best known and most critically lauded adaptation of Henry James’ novella The Turn of the Screw. It was not a commercial success at the time of its release, but the film has gone on to have a long life as a “classic” psychological thriller (Scorsese included it on his “11 … Continue reading
Movie Discussion: Kaneto Shindô’s Onibaba (1964)
Girl Meets Context: Post-WWII Japan gave rise to a Golden Age of samurai films (called chanbara movies). These movies of the 1950s and 1960s were often cynical and psychologically complex, from Inagaki’s Samurai trilogy (1954-6) to Kurosawa’s masterpieces like Seven Samurai (1954) or Yojimbo (1961) to the genre’s crowning jewel, Masaki Kobayashi’s spell-binding Harakiri (1962). Director Kaneto Shindô merged the chanbara … Continue reading
