Today’s 31 Days of Horror guest post comes courtesy of Don’t Hide PR’s Melissa Meszaros.
There are images that stick with us despite our inability to remember their context.
I’m a small person, so it goes without saying that I was a small kid. Hated roller coasters because I’d nearly fly out of my seat in a loopty-loop, but for as long as I can remember, I f**king loved being scared to death. Tales of terror and urban myths—we can talk about how I was terrified of (but came to love) Chucky, how certain films led me to believe that I saw heads with bat wings in their temples flying over abandoned houses in my childhood neighborhood, and that I really thought there was a floating monster in the damn nearby (Creepshow 2). I could talk about the much loved collection, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, but let’s not expound on the obvious…The awesome Andy Burns gave me the time to talk about my favorite Halloween finds that won’t be read elsewhere.
Gotta say, horror plus hormones is the scariest thing. Coupling good shock and pop culture with one good looking boy who also happened to star in an Aerosmith video in 1993, made this gal a horror fan for life. Dearest Edward Furlong, consider this my aubade to your cinematic lineage…
My number one horror film of 1994 is Brainscan. Pre-Black Mirror, there was really nothing scarier (outside of the evolution of technology itself) than a compact disc with simulation of a murder, and you, the killer. If you haven’t seen this film, you’ve gotta be kidding me. Directed by John Flynn and written by Brian Owens and Andrew Kevin Walker, starring the beloved Edward Furlong and the smaller part of the Detective Hayden played by Frank Langella, we follow Fango-reading, Primus-listening teen, Michael, and his flannel clad supporting cast, holding steadfast to keeping their academic enrichment nary “Horror Club” after Edward’s cleverly sarcastic gallbladder remark. He and his best friend Kyle hit an impasse when his buddy asks to share the experimental video game, only where a petition is started to save their school club. Enter Trickster (played by T. Ryder Smith) then other heinous spoilers ensue, but you have to love a dude who’s willing to rock a fohawk in the same red that L7’s Jennifer Finch doo…
Speaking of L7 and Edward Furlong. Second to the heap of my top horror flicks—Pet Sematary 2 (1992). While not the same caliber of horror as its predecessor, we have to take each sequel as its own entity. Each time I think of the stepdad, Gus, (Clancy Brown), I can’t help but think how his greatest cinematic moment was shearing off actor Jared Rushton’s head (he always seems to play a character we hated in the ‘90s—ahem… Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) with a motocross bike?! I want to say that L7’s “Sh*tlist” was playing in that scene, but then again, I think Gus was skinning rabbits, and as a kosher pescaterian, I can’t say I agree with that action if it wasn’t a work of artful, gorey cinema.
Thematically, that’s what stands out to me when talking about horror 90’s cinema is Edward Furlong. Ask more questions and you can get a spiel on Tony Todd (Candyman) or why I think there should be more horror soundtrack compilations that aren’t John Carpenter or from Light in the Attic (though I adore them). And the 80’s… oh that era where I consider myself a VHS scholar, that’s up for a later date, if Biff Bam Pop will have me back…
Melissa Meszaros is the owner and Publicity Director of Don’t Hide PR—a company that handles publicity for comics, their creators, and original graphic novels. DHPR are 20 year veterans of the entertainment industry and appreciate artistry and integrity.
