Nadia Latif is a theatremaker and film director based in London, UK. She has directed a number of short films, most recently the horror White Girl, which is forthcoming from BFI. She is currently working on a feature-length horror film.
Most of this lends itself naturally to very specific styles of film, mostly historical epics and the like. Movies like Gladiator, Clash of the Titans, and more recently, The Northman, all dip into the vast and colorful pantheons of various extinct religions, bending them to the trappings of a modern narrative and three-act structure to produce popcorn fodder of mixed quality. More often than not, the specific mythological flavor applied to these films is nothing more than set dressing, used to fancify and make exotic what is otherwise a generic coming-of-age story or revenge fantasy.
Seriously, imagine a horror flick about any one of the hundreds (if not thousands) of twisted, monstrous beasts that populate the Greek pantheon. Chimeras, gorgons, harpies; All could be scary as all hell if approached with the same level of seriousness as they were revered with in their heyday.
And these are just the physical codifiers of the wendigo of myth. Many other versions see them as a much less tangible force, a dark spirit or otherworldly being that transcends physical form. This is a monster of the psyche, one that attacks the mind or the soul instead of the body itself. Sometimes they can possess, forcing a person to give in to their basest impulses, while other times they can simply influence, posing as the devil on an individuals shoulder as they whisper words of encouragement towards selfish and destructive deeds. In any case, to simply portray the wendigo as another simple monster to be slain is a highly reductive and culturally ignorant reading of the lore which they spring from.
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September 8, 2023, 2:03 AM Another week, another coast, and another Halloween Horror Nights. Tonight, we were in Hollywood for the opening night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. And just like in Orlando last week, one house stood out above the rest.
As I wrote in my review of the Orlando event last week, "ranking the houses at Halloween Horror Nights is always a futile affair." Driven by the live performances of hundreds of scareactors, the houses evolve over the event's run, and the timing with which you hit the cadence of scares within a house can make your experience vary substantially from visit to visit.
Depraved fun from beginning to end, Chucky thrills and amuses as he goes on a killing spree in the HHN house that Universal created for him. Sure, you might want to laugh at the sad end of a fellow HHN fan, who died watching his vlog about the annual event. But, don't worry, "blood" will be on your hands by the end of the house - as well as on your face and much of your body. Universal really leaned into physical effects with this year's houses, and Chucky takes advantage with some substantial water jets.
I also appreciated that Hollywood actually delivered a running "kill count" in the house, as its name promised. The use of Chucky puppets and animatronic here also is outstanding, setting a standard that continues in our second-favorite house.
Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America offers a gallery of horrifying creatures from Latin American folklore. This house's use of large-scale puppetry helps push it to the top of this tier. That scale continues in the Latin-themed El Terror de las Momias scare zone that follows at the exit of the house.
Last week, I declined to rank two of the IP houses in Orlando, since I thought that a visitor's experience within them would vary so much based on their knowledge of the franchises. But I didn't feel that way about their siblings on the west coast. In each case, I though these installations did a good job of creating a self-contained world that would reward fans while also entertaining newcomers to these franchises.
Stranger Things 4 does perhaps a slightly better job with its IP's story, giving it the next spot in our list. This house never reaches for the scale that the Orlando version delivered, but I appreciated the work of the scareactor cast in this house. In general, Hollywood's houses seemed to use scareactors in places where Orlando relied on mannequins, helping to bring the Hollywood versions literally to life.
The Last of Us didn't lean so much into the video game's narrative as much as it just immerses you in the scene and environment of the game. Without the emotional foundation that makes the attacks in the game (and HBO show) so powerful, this house feels more like just another collection of jump scares - though in an amazing setting that pushes it into our top tier.
Universal Monsters: Unmasked embraces a gothic vibe that takes a bit to get going, but finishes strong with The Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame coming at you in rapid fashion, accompanied by another original HHN house score from Slash.
Evil Dead Rise fills the old Walking Dead Attraction space with one of the longer houses of the night. There are some nice scenes here, but also a lot of long corridors punctuated by what felt like the same jump scare. It's good, but just not as great as some of the other houses this year.
And finally, we have The Exorcist: Believer. They need to turn down the swamp juice on this one. This was the first HHN house that made me fear I was going to suffocate from the amount of fog inside. And endless blood red corridors also lost the momentum from some nice scenes that set up this upcoming film. Maybe with less suffocating fog I would have liked this house more. As is, though, it was just too uncomfortable to enjoy.
After the Chucky house, perhaps the most fun I had at Halloween Horror Nights this year was Terror Tram: The Exterminatorz. Terror Tram often leans into humor along with horror, and this year there's a sarcastic environmental message thrown into this mix, as well. The tram ride provides just enough time to set up the first walk-through scarezone, at the Bates Motel set, before we pass the War of the Worlds set then head across the street for our walk through the Jupiter's Claim set from Jordan Peele's "Nope." This year, there's a mash-up with the Tethered from Peele's "Us" on the faux theme park streets, as well.
With the construction for the upcoming Fast & Furious roller coaster tearing down the old Castle Theater, Universal turned to its WaterWorld theater for this year's Halloween Horror Nights live show - The Purge: Dangerous Waters.
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