Ayo! It’s time for another Spooky Season offering from your favourite Bird Boys, and this week, well… we went to a haunted farm and got scared in real life! So, instead of talking about a specific movie, we decided to do another Spooky Bird episode on a variety of horror and horror-adjacent topics. First things first, though. We start this episode with a recap of our night of frights and friendship at the local Fear Farm Halloween event. From screaming ladies popping out of the ceiling to a tall bone man rubbing PALMREADER’s head to a lady in line openly talking about her sexual proclivities and drug use in line to a crazy beatboxing performance… it was a night of laughs, seasonal scares, and fun. Definitely consider checking out the Fear Farm if you live in the region.

Then, we shift gears to discuss a variety of topics related to Horror cinema. Firstly, PALMREADER wants to know why some folklore and mythology haven’t been explored in horror. For example… Why are there no really good, elevated movies about alien abductions, Bigfoot, missing people in the woods, and other creepy and ominous creatures and scenarios? We think there are things that the genre is missing out on, and can’t figure out why nobody has really done them justice. Otis has a stellar idea for how a filmmaker could really make an abduction film horrifying, and PALMREADER reminisces on a TV movie about aliens showing up at a family Thanksgiving that freaked him out as a kid.

Then, we discuss one of the major issues plaguing horror films these days… formulaic and shallow over-complication! For some reason, people seem to forget what makes the core kernels of various horror concepts effective and opt for making sequels or films that needlessly riff on an already good idea in dumb ways. Mostly, we take issue with the practice of overcomplicating narratives that has been baked into the standard studio filmmaking formula (especially in sequels) and the lack of organic and thoughtful re-contextualization that you find in some great foreign or independent films like “Let The Right One In”, “Hereditary”, or “Stake Land”. Why couldn't this be done with a bigger budget on one of these lesser-known stories or mythos? Why don’t more filmmakers explore core concepts in a natural, logical, and meaningful way? Why not improve or experiment with the technical aspects of filmmaking as opposed to needlessly complicating or diluting the ideas that are actually scary? In horror, sometimes simple is better, yet that point seems to have been lost somewhere.

This leads to a discussion on vampires and werewolves and haunted house movies and why many of them seem to miss the mark on something so simple it should be banger after banger. Otis has been on a werewolf kick lately and has many thoughts. PALMREADER has some issues with the “Conjuring” series and the wider "Conjuring" cinematic world that he uses as a base for his arguments. Later in the episode, we discuss “Heretic” and when non-horror actors make villainous turns in horror or thriller films (much like Hugh Grant as the charming yet insanely evil Mr. Reed). We list some of our favourites and discuss what makes these performances great.

Join us for all this, and many other rantings and ravings, in this Spooky Bird episode.

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