Queer terror in 'Ganymede' 👹, Olympic-sized horror 🏅, David Teixeira on his personal faves 🎥, & more!

We've been mesmerized by the Olympic Games, from the opening ceremonies to the fantastic sporting events (and we can’t wait to see what Tom Cruise will be doing!). No matter which country you're rooting for, it’s great to see the world coming together and putting on one helluva great show.

Speaking of games, for this week’s listicle, Bee and I got into the Olympics spirit and put together a list of horror films that feature a tournament-like scenario, where one (or maybe more) winner takes all, but leaves a trail of death and destruction behind. From House of 9 to The Belko Experiment, we learn that people will do anything to win or, in some cases, survive.

In addition, because Bee and I love challenges and tournaments, we’re both participating in the #100HorrorMoviesIn92Days Challenge. Follow our progress: Bee | Brett

Now that Bee’s back from camping (and lived to tell about it), we have a fun list ready for next week’s issue, so stay tuned for that.

Until then, stay hydrated!

Issue 010’s Letterboxd list can be found here

Two Crazy Women: Joan Crawford & Diane Baker in Strait-Jacket

Horror sits in a very unique genre space. It’s not just about transmitting terrifying images to scare audiences but supplying required dramatic and emotional hooks to yank you kicking and screaming into the film’s claustrophobic world. With William Castle’s psychological horror Strait-Jacket, turning 60 this year, the Joan Crawford-led ensemble piece explores one woman’s psychotic break, an axe-wielding rampage, and the depths to which human beings plunge to recover from a fractured state of existence.

Crawford, famously a diva in every sense of the word, notably collaborated with Castle on the picture and frequently directed her co-stars, flexing great creative control over the filming stages and how her character radiated from the silver screen. She directed herself and demonstrated compelling directorial instincts that make whatever film she stars in a real delight.

“I remember Joan saying, ‘Every morning, I told Diane Baker, ‘Now, Diane, I want you to find your key light and stay in it.’” That’s advice she always gave young actors,’ Crawford publicist Richard Kahn described during the promotion of the Scream Factory special edition release. His words resonate across six decades of literal blood, sweat, and tears since the film’s initial theatrical run.

Strait-Jacket tells the enthralling tale of a woman named Lucy (Crawford) and her psychotic break after discovering her husband in bed with a mistress. In cunty fashion, Lucy ax murders and decapitates the two lovers – right in front of her daughter Carol. Castle, along with cinematographer Arthur E. Arling, tinkers with contrasting light and shadow to portray such graphic deaths with heads tumbling like granny smith apples into a woven basket. The crunch of bone and flappy flesh can be heard, mingling with Lucy’s shrill, throaty screams as she’s bound into a straitjacket and hauled off to the asylum for her crimes.

Twenty years later, Carol (Baker) has grown into a graceful, handsome woman with ambitions to marry her fiancé Michael (John Anthony Hayes). But his parents aren’t exactly Carol’s biggest fans. When prompted about her mother and where she’s been the past two decades, Carol grows nervous and chatty. She fumbles over her words, unable to form a cohesive sentence. Michael comes to the rescue and sidesteps the question, claiming they need to “get going” to another engagement. Michael’s mother Allison (Edith Atwater) remains particularly suspicious of Carol and her family roots and declares that her son shall not marry her.

With her release from a mental asylum, Lucy attempts to navigate life on the outside. So much has changed in 20 years. Carol suggests Lucy go on a shopping spree to update her wardrobe and hairdo and takes her for an afternoon stroll into town. Through a much-needed mother-daughter day, Lucy transforms from a mousy, scared-of-her-shadow diffident into the bold, sexy, and self-assured woman of her youth. In regaining her identity, she retreads her past in a way that troubles her doctor, Dr. Anderson (Mitchell Cox), who makes a surprise visit to the family farm to convince Lucy to return to the asylum for further treatment.

Crawford, two years removed since her superstar spin in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, delicately delivers another career-defining performance. She takes great care to provide nuance to Lucy’s character arc, slipping into her skin like a cobra shedding its own. In true Crawford fashion, she frequently oscillates between subtle, soft-spoken moments to volcanic emissions that engulf the rafters in flames. She paints with every emotional color in her arsenal – scrawling a performance that oozes like rupturing sores filled with puss, discolored and rubbery. She proves to be an appropriate counterweight to Baker’s own exquisite outing.

While it’s unclear how much Crawford needed to direct Baker, Baker put in the work to carve out an equally magnetic presence. The film might be 60 years old, but plenty of horror folks may not have seen it yet. So, I’ll avoid major spoilers and the big third-act reveal. Instead, I’ll comment on Baker’s incisive character study into a young girl’s childhood trauma and the lingering impact it had on her psyche and ability to hold stable relationships.

Life in shambles, Carol went to live with her uncle Bill (Leif Erickson) on his farm and built an art studio where she could create sculptures and other artistic pieces. Art is a wholly cathartic experience, after all. On the surface, she’s forged a normal life for herself and buried her mother’s terrifying secrets. She wades into her relationship with Michael with the hope of gaining a sense of security and a bit of Michael’s family money. She’s not necessarily a diabolical person; her actions speak to something far more insidious than meets the eye. She’s charmed her way into his life – and he’s been none the wiser. He’s fallen head over heels, but story curveballs make him distrustful of her actual intentions.

Carol and Lucy possess polar opposite qualities. One exudes innocence and confidence, while the other hides away from the world, afraid of falling back into old habits. Collectively, Baker and Crawford are an acting match made in heaven. Each chews up the scenery whenever they’re on screen – exploding into an impressive pas de deux throughout the picture. Their routines and elegant formations provide rich texts to the script that both celebrate women and chip away at the faultlines fraying the edges of psychology.

Strait-Jacket makes all the right moves, holding its cards close to the vest until the moment is perfectly perfect. With Joan Crawford and Diane Baker as the leads, the 1964 feature film sticks to the back of the cranium long after the credits have rolled. Both performers frolic in their roles, elevating the material as a transformative piece of cinema candy. Without their commanding character creations, Strait-Jacket would simply not live on as a treasured relic from one of history’s most prized decades.

P.S. Double feature this with 2019’s The Lodge for a good time.

We all love a little competition, don’t we? With the Olympic Games still running, we created a list of films where the winner takes all, including a number of lives along the way. Check out the list on Letterboxd.

The 100 Horror Movies in 92 Days Challenge is back! The event runs from August 1st through October 31st, allowing participants to watch (at least) 100 horror films during this time (and all must be a first-time watch!). Read the guidelines here.

Popcorn Frights Film Festival, the Southeast United States largest international genre film festival, will celebrate its tenth year on August 8-18, 2024. Popcorn Frights showcases features and shorts by filmmakers from around the world to an audience of horror lovers and filmmakers, industry, and journalists. Learn more at popcornfrights.com.

Silver Scream Con, the horror convention that brought 5,000 blood-thirsty movie fans to Boston's North Shore in each of its first two iterations, brings the Three-quel everyone's been dying for to Worcester’s DCU Center on September 13-15, 2024. Tickets and information are available now at silverscreamcon.com.