Mike Thorn's Blog, page 41

Hostel: Part II and the Monster of Neoliberal Late-Capitalism

The torture scenes in writer-director Eli Roth’s Hostel openly evoked the 2003 Abu Ghraib photographs, which depicted United States military and Central Intelligence Agency personnel subjecting Iraqi prisoners to acts of profound cruelty and abuse. The film also addressed post-9/11 U.S.A.’s widespread xenophobia and confusion in the midst of an incompetent administration while satirizing upper-class masculinist group dynamics. Shortly after Hostel enjoyed overwhelming mainstream success, David Edelstein published “Now Playing at Your Local Multiplex: Torture Porn” for New York magazine, an article that leveled unilateral arguments against the wave of brutal films flooding the American mainstream — including Hostel, but also films such as Wolf Creek, The Devil’s Rejects, and the Saw franchise.

This incendiary context set the stage for Roth’s Hostel: Part II, which acts both as an inversion and political expansion of its predecessor. Where Hostel offers a glib satire of homosocial desire among hyper-masculine males, the sequel focuses on a trio of young women. If Hostel reacts to the Abu Ghraib photographs by leveling a critique against unchecked western military imperialism, Part II condemns rampant late-capitalist neoliberalism at large. In 2007, the sequel’s political resonance was lost amidst blanket arguments against “torture porn” (a term that Edelstein’s article leaves unfortunately broad and open-ended); in 2017, its nastily incisive observations remain too relevant to be brushed aside.

Read the full article in The Film Stage.

New Short Story "Speaking of Ghosts" in Vague Visages

My new short story is available to read in full here.

New Short Story "Lucio Schluter" Published in DarkFuse

Yesterday, DarkFuse published my story "Lucio Schluter" as part of their "Darkborne Muse" series! You can read the piece here. Note: if you're not subscribed to DarkFuse (which I highly recommend), they're currently offering a free digital trial.

Also check out the third entry in my Devious Dialogues column with A.M. Novak, in which we discuss the Exorcist franchise.

My Debut for The Seventh Row: On Dread, Eroticism, and Texting in Personal Shopper

Two weeks ago, The Seventh Row published my article "‘No desire if it’s not forbidden’: Dread, eroticism, and text messaging in Personal Shopper" as part of their Personal Shopper special issue.

Read the full article here.

Horror Talks with A.M. Novak

Earlier this year, I sat down with A.M. Novak to chat the Halloween and Friday the 13th franchises for Vague Visages (articles linked below).

Halloween

Friday the 13th

10 Favorite Stephen King Novels

Since the trailer for Muschietti's It dropped yesterday (I have very mixed feelings), I've had Stephen King on the brain. I have some gaps to fill, and there are a few titles I'd like to re-read, but as of this moment, here are my 10 favorite King novels (excluding Dark Tower installments):

01. It (1986)
02. Dolores Claiborne (1992)
03. Pet Sematary (1983)
04. Dreamcatcher (2001)
05. Christine (1983)
06. From a Buick 8 (2002)
07. The Shining (1977)
08. Lisey's Story (2006)
09. The Tommyknockers (1987)
10. The Dead Zone (1979)

Debut Collection DARKEST HOURS Set for November Release

I am humbled and thrilled to make this announcement.

Last week, I signed a contract with Unnerving for the November release of my debut collection, Darkest Hours.

Check back for more news!

‘Diary of the Dead’ and George A. Romero’s Formal Self-Awareness

Enter 2007’s Diary of the Dead, a film as deeply political as its predecessors, but characterized by a uniquely pronounced formal self-awareness. After Land saw major studio development under the banner of Universal Pictures, Diary finds Romero reevaluating the kind of micro-budget conditions that produced Night of the Living Dead. It calls attention to the sensibilities that have overwhelmingly haunted mainstream horror since the release of two genre-shaking titles in the late 1990s: Wes Craven’s Scream and Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez’s The Blair Witch Project. Romero taps into the postmodern auto-critique of the former, and the subjective “found footage” aesthetic of the latter.

Read my full Film Stage debut, “Diary of the Dead and George A. Romero’s Formal Self-Awareness” here.

Martin Scorsese / Wes Craven

What do these two auteurs have in common? I wrote about both for Vague Visages recently.

Moments of Revelation in Martin Scorsese’s Silence and Shutter Island

The Many Peculiar Virtues of Wes Craven's My Soul to Take

M. Night Shyamalan's Split

I wrote a review of M. Night Shyamalan's new film, Split, for MUBI Notebook. Check it out here.