31 Days of October, Day 19

Today, I'm going to list some more serious Horror films. Ghost stories are my favorite. Monsters are fun and aliens too but a good ghost story tops them all. (Of course, werewolves are a close second.) And here (in my opinion) is where Guillermo Del Toro excels. My first recommendation is a foreign film, and yes, you'll have to watch it with subtitles. Personally, I've never let that hold me back. You shouldn't either. You absolutely won't be sorry.

I've watched that film multiple times and each viewing brings with it another insight. I absolutely adore it. Bonus points for a literary reference supremely executed. The next one isn't quite as good in my opinion, but then, I'm a sucker for everything the first did...so, my opinion can be discounted. ;) The next up is The Devil's Backbone.

This film combines history and Horror. Set in the Spanish Civil War (1939 for those who don't know)--the film centers around a boy (Carlos) whose father is a dead war hero (on the side of the Republicans.) The war is winding down, and Franco's Right-Wing Nationalists are winning. Carlos is abandoned at an orphanage in the middle of nowhere by his tutor. There, Carlos discovers the place is haunted by more than a ghost. The ghost pushes him to solve the mystery before the others are killed. The visuals in this film are stunning.

And now, because I can...Crimson Peak.

Crimson Peak is the best Hammer Horror film ever...even if it isn't a Hammer Horror film. (For the record, I enjoy Hammer Horror too--as long as it doesn't get too sexist. The films featured pretty big in my formative years.) I've had a fondness for Gothic Horror stories since I was a wee sprout and reading the likes of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Phylis A. Whitney. To this day, I totally dig giant spooky houses with dark secrets and over-stuffed Victorian furniture. It's a thing. Anyway, the esthetics of this film are spot on for the era it portrays. The actress could've stepped out of a Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood painting. Good stuff. Don't look for anything deep in the story. The women in it don't always make sense. Enjoy it for the bit of decadent Halloween candy fluff that it is. And it's a gorgeous work of gothic art.