Because I am a normal person but also because I very literally have no self control I spent two days last week (weekdays) cooped up like a Howard Hughes recluse watching Stranger Things. It was amazing and I regret nothing. Except for when it was over and the deep pit of sadness and aimlessness in my soul reemerged. And although waiting for a new Winona Ryder project is a fun game to play I’ve already wasted 20 years of my life and I’m not sure how many more I have to spare. Stranger Things worked because it was a geeky tribute to 80’s horror films, it was weird as shit and never tried to compromise any of that. So since we’ll be waiting like a year or two for the next season, here are some similarly strange and eerie things to keep you preoccupied.
1. The X-Files, The Post-Modern Prometheus
Even if you don’t like or don’t watch the X-Files you should watch this episode. The whole thing is shot in black and white and has an ‘80s campiness to it (a good thing). It’s very Frankensteinish if Frankenstein had happened in some hickish absurd middle America back water town where everyone is obsessed with Jerry Springer. It’s funny and sweet and most importantly ends with a dance scene set to Cher’s Walking In Memphis.
2. Twin Peaks
There’s an anecdote about Gorbachev calling the White House to try to get them to force David Lynch to reveal who Laura Palmer’s killer is (you’ll notice this may also explain why the USSR collapsed when it did). David Lynch is like top five living directors and pretty much everything he’s directed, with the possible exception of the Sting heavy Dune, is a weird and wonderful masterpiece. Listen to me there are two seasons of Twin Peaks totaling in thirty episodes as well a movie featuring David Bowie!!!!!! There is murder, there are several dream sequences, an eccentric woman talking to a log, and someone with a leather jacket. There’s also a reboot slated for 2017 which David Lynch refused to participate in until he had full artistic control so good things are coming.
3. The Double
Prior to directing, Richard Ayoade starred in the short lived but extremely funny British sitcom, the It Crowd. His directorial film debut was a movie called Submarine with a soundtrack done by Alex Turner. It’s like a funnier, less colorful, less obnoxious version of Moonrise Kingdom. Anyways the Double is an adaptation of a Dostoevsky book set in some sort of communist dystopia (possibly utopia?? unclear). Jesse Eisenberg plays Simon who lives a very ordinary and mechanical life which all goes to shit when his doppelgänger and polar opposite James shows up.
4. Les Yeux Sans Visage
If you’re really looking to shit yourself during a movie than vintage European horror is where it’s at. The name of the movie literally translate to “Eyes Without A Face” which is also the basic premise of the movie. A girl loses her face in a car accident and then her father spends the rest of the movie trying to get her a new one and implant it on her face. The only caveat is that the score somewhat perplexingly sounds like it was borrowed from some lost Looney Toons episode.
Film column by Tamim Alnuweiri. Follow her at @tamimalnuweiri.
