Ghostface and the Last Supper

- So Maleficent got yet another new trailer that showcased Lana Del Rey's beautiful version of Once Upon A Dream. It's perfect and I love it. I fell asleep on Monday with it playing on repeat and when I woke up I'd listened to it 123 times, so I may have been hypnotised into loving it.
- Empire's new issue has 25 different covers showcasing the whole cast of Days of Future Past, and they look terrible. Whoever designed these really needs to resign because some of these are seriously the ugliest costumes I've seen. They're worse than the Bat-nipple fiasco.
- I mean look at Evan Peters. What is that?!
- American Horror Story's third season finished this week. It was my favourite season so far and the finale did not disappoint. It actually reminded me of the Buffy finale, which was nice.
- People on Tumblr have noticed how the dresses that the actresses wore for the Emmy's indicated their fates in the show, which was brilliant.
- Rumours for season four have been floating around recently and suggesting that there may be a 1950's  Circus setting. I absolutely love that idea, if only because I'm actually pretty scared of the Circus and clowns in particular, so it would surely be the scariest season so far for me.
- I'm still no closer to working my way through the Oscar nominees so February's going to be a busy month.


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30 Days of Horror | Day 8

A Terrifying Inanimate Object
When A Stranger Calls

I had quite the list of options for today's post. Many directors have found masterful ways to make completely mundane objects a source of terror. I considered talking about Chucky the killer doll, the videotape from Ringu, the ventriloquist dummy from Dead Silence or any child's toy from any horror film ever. Finally I settled on a prop that in some way features in the majority of horror films; the phone.

As a way of connecting to almost anyone, including the police, it has become compulsory in horror films, particularly the slasher, to address why the terrorised teenagers never call for help; whether it be a bad signal, a dead battery or a missing phone. 1979's When A Stranger Calls explored the use of a phone line in horror in a much more terrifying way, adapting the familiar urban legend of a murderer who terrorises a young babysitter through a series of sinister phone calls. While that event only made up the opening scene of the film, which developed into more of a crime thriller, in 2007 that single event was stretched out to feature length in a remake of the same name.

The concept of having a complete stranger repeatedly phone you while you are alone and vulnerable is one that has proved extremely effective. The Scream franchise thrived on this idea, while Ringu used a phone call to ominously announce a seven day countdown until the recipients death. The remake of When A Stranger Calls was not very well received, which I believe was related to a perceived lack of originality, but it was never striving to be original. The film is effective because it creates a tense atmosphere that persists throughout the 86 minute runtime, due in no small part to the impact the director was able to create through the simple, familiar sound of a ringing phone. The benefit of the viewer already knowing the story is that the film comes with pre-established level of suspense as the they wait for the iconic moment in which it is revealed that 'the call is coming from inside the house', a line that would surely cause anyone to lose their shit.

And I've been suspicious of blocked callers ever since.