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"Well ghouls, goblins, and ghosties, it's been a trying month, but it seems like we've managed to make it to the final week so we can lay to rest for another year. Trigger Warning, for our last week, we'll be discussing the things that we've paid some therapists a good amount of money for: childhood trauma. Sometimes the scariest people in the world are those that are supposed to protect you. Remember, movies, are ranked because I only offer treats, no tricks, with some of the best movies saved for our final week."
-Melanie Roland, Senior Patients' Rights Attorney
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The Thing In The Dark: How Art Confronts Child Abuse | From 'IT' to 'The Exorcist' to 'The Babadook,' horror films shine a light where it's needed most | | | |
The Importance of Scary Movies for Children | The Mary Sue | The world is a scary place, but at least children's movies about horror give us heroes to face the danger. | | | |
Stephen King's IT: Why Pennywise's Victims Are Mostly Children | IT's targets are mostly children, and while the book explains it's because their fears are simpler, there might be a deeper explanation. | | | | |
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FRIGHTENING FACTS: You might have seen Madeleine McGraw, the sister in "The Black Phone" before. Or think you might have. She's twins with fellow mini-scream queen Violet, who played young Nell in Netflix's "The Haunting of Hill House," Cady in "M3GAN," and Violet in "Doctor Sleep." She gave advice to her sister to turn out a stellar horror performance, and she should know, she's been acting since she was five and already nominated because of her work on "The Haunting of Hill House." | | |
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WATCH: The Babadook (2014)
☠️☠️☠️/5
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'The Babadook' Is a Horror Movie About a Mother Who Hates Her Son | With her critically acclaimed debut feature-length film, Jennifer Kent wants to show that horror movies can explore serious issues. | | | |
“This is one of the best horror movies made in the past couple decades and I don't mean that hyperbolically, it's a film that critics and fans love. What happens to a mother who hates her son due to her grief? What happens to a son who can't process his emotions? Does that give way for an evil creature to be let into your life and can you ever escape it? One depiction of animal abuse, and I'm not going to lie, it can be a scary movie, relying on a terrifying atmosphere, it's hard not to feel trapped with the Babadook-dook-dook.” | |
Stream on Hulu, Pluto, Plex, Fawesome, Tubi, Spectrum, AMC, Shudder, or IFC Films | |
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WATCH: The Black Phone (2022)
☠️☠️/5
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The Black Phone Tells a Beautiful Story About Overcoming Abuse | The Black Phone is more than just a creepy ghost story. It has something to say, and its message is one we'd all do well to heed. | | | |
“2.5 Skulls? This was one of my favorite movies that I saw this year!! Ethan Hawke is amazing as 'The Grabber,' in this film, but it's really both of the child actors that turn out a STELLAR performance. This movie is also based on a short story from Stephen King's son. There are some jump scares, depictions of cut away child abuse, and bullying, but if you're able to watch it, I was glued to my screen.” | |
Stream for Peacockwith service | |
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WATCH: Saloum (2022)
☠️/5
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Saloum: A Terrific Senegalese Genre Mashup | In marrying hard-boiled pulp fiction intrigue with Senegalese history and folklore, Saloum is a non-stop thrill-ride like no other. | | | | |
“A Senegalese spaghetti Western Horror-Action? Not something you're going to see everyday. When a trio of mercenaries are stranded by suspected sabotage of their airplane, and forced to take shelter in Saloum, things quickly start to unravel at the seams. The plot is very tight for all that happens, which is why I'm avoiding spoilers, but it manages a lot in a really short run time." | |
Stream on AMC, Shudder, or Spectrum | |
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WATCH: Cobweb (2023)
☠️☠️☠️/5
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Repressing the Past & Nurturing Monsters in COBWEB | COBWEB is a haunting Gothic film about the traumas of family and whether there's a life beyond them. | | | | |
“This movie literally just came out on Hulu this past weekend and I had been eagerly waiting for it to drop. It's got some amazing scares and the parents are...absolutely terrifying. It's really a story about how family, intentionally and even unintentionally, inflicts pain on others. It has a Grimm's Fairytales feel to it, which makes it all the more terrifying and better." | |
Stick around at the end of this month for a frightful brown bag lunch about revenge and horror and I'll send out the link soon--make sure to sleep with a nightlight for the rest of the month! ☠️ | |
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To recap previous October Haunts series, you can visit the links below:
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