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Halloween Special Sunday Debate: Cult classic scream queens or the creepy psychotic thrillers - what’s your pick?
Two millennial thriller fans discuss the revival of a cult film and the changing perception of what’s truly horrifying
“People like relatability: if you were in their place, what would you do?”
By Ankita Dasgupta
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) was a cult movie when I was in school. It was my favourite because it made me wonder what I would do if I were in the protagonist’s place.
Of course, India had movies like Shaitan (2011), but they didn’t spark any thoughts. People like shows like Squid Game because of their relatability—if you were in their place, what would you do? These films made me realise that the protagonist can be the antagonist too.
I don’t think the cult movies needed a remake but the ongoing I Know What You Did Last Summer series is watchable, though there are a lot of holes in the plot.
Lately, I haven’t come across movies that are scary to the core, like the first Conjuring (2013) movie or The Hills Have Eyes (2006).
That’s disappointing, considering how great CGI (computer-generated imagery) is today. Watching Avengers Endgame in the theatre was like watching an India-Pakistan match—everyone was hooting every five minutes.
The last scary thing I watched was the documentary House of Secrets: The Burari Deaths, where 11 people died due to one man’s ignored mental health and manipulation of the next level. Reality is scarier today.
Ankita Dasgupta, 31, a Mumbai-based design manager, plans to bingewatch the Scary Movie films (2000 onwards) this Halloween.
“Sharp and goofy writing is what works, even in thrillers”
By Karishma Kuenzang
At 12, I was a fan of the series Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Then I was introduced to Ghost Whisperer (2015). And one night, when my parents weren’t home, 14-year-old me watched I Know What You Did Last Summer. I didn’t sleep a wink that night.
The less-than-two-hours of screams and thrills was a far cry from what was on TV then. And it had eye candy like Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe.
The remake series took me by surprise because I didn’t think there was anything to add. But they’ve added a familial twist, the hint of a cult, more secrets than the movies could hold and diverse characters. Is too much happening? Maybe. But you can’t blame the makers from trying to make a psychological thriller out of the original screamathon.
Today, thrillers like Ready or Not (2019) and Us (2019) have shown us that the simplest things can truly horrify us. Besides, gore can even be humourous, as Ryan Reynolds shows in the Deadpool movies (2016 onwards). Sharp and goofy writing works, as evident in the series You.Which Indian girl hasn’t experienced some kind of stalking? That’s why creepy men rule the genre.
Karishma Kuenzang, 31, is a member of the HT Brunch team. She plans to bingewatch You for Halloween, purely for the humour.
From HT Brunch, October 31, 2021
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