Week 4 Reading and Movies: Under the Skin, Freaks, Cabin in the Woods, American Psycho, The Girl Next Door, The Walking Dead

OLD WEIRD AND NEW WEIRD.

Weird. What an appropriate word to describe the content that I’ve digested this week. First: Under the Skin.

I was intrigued right off the bat by this movie and was immediately taken by the musical theme. I really enjoyed the first half of the movie, it was chilling and uneasy but in a cold and beautiful way. I have screenshots of this movie on my computer for inspiration. What’s “weird” about this movie, I suppose, is that the alien infiltrating society to abduct prey isn’t new, but the way that Under the Skin does it is different and unique. Admittedly, while I really like the first half of the movie, I felt I started losing interest when she started having human sentiment. Also I was hoping the alien at the end would be more alien and not just Scarlett Johansson covered in black.

Second: Freaks.

Freaks is a great movie and one that I watch annually with my brother. I love how in a sea of people that able people would call “freaks and monsters” the real freak and monster is the awful hateful able woman.

Third: American Psycho.

I’ve watched American Psycho many times, it’s just one of those movies that never gets old and my perception of what really happened always changes. The weird in this film is the unreliable narrator and the perceived reality and sequence of events.

Forth: The Girl Next Door.
This story! I actually knew the real life story this book/movie was based off of and was surprised to find out they were connected. The amount of small-town cousin/family Incest and child sexual mental and physical abuse is way too much for me. It was too hard for me to finish the book; even the movie was a lot to handle.