Fall is finally upon us. Thank goodness!
I’m not a fan of the spring or summer — I can’t breathe during the spring, and summer is just way too hot — but I love the autumn and winter months.
Now that we’re finally seeing fall temperatures, I can breathe a little easier (literally).
I also love Halloween. I love the decor, the costumes and just the spectacle of it all. It’s a fun holiday.
I may be too old to trick-or-treat, and I’m also not the type to go roll someone’s house, but I love getting into the Halloween spirit by watching a ton of horror movies.
I love to watch the classics — “Dracula” (in most of his incarnations), “Frankenstein” (the Karloff version), “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” “The Exorcist” and so on — and I crave a really good, new scary movie.
Here we are, just 11 days from Halloween, and I’ve gotta say — I’m a bit disappointed.
Really, there are only two new scary movies out right now: “It,” which I saw a few weeks ago, and “Happy Death Day.” I can’t say anything for the later yet, but “It” was great.
That being said, “It,” to me, stands out among many modern horror movies because it’s actually good.
Don’t get me wrong, over the last few years, there have been a few really good scary movies, but they are few and far between. “Don’t Breathe” was a standout last year.
“Get Out” was great, although it’s more psychological thriller than horror, per say. “The Conjuring” was fantastic; however, I didn’t care as much for the sequel or spin-offs.
The majority of scary movies released in the last few years can be summed up with one word — mediocre.
Horror isn’t as popular as a genre as it once was, and there have always been cheesy, mediocre scary movies, but it seems to me that it’s worse now than years past.
Sure, there’s no shortage of your standard psycho killer movie, but there’s not really any standouts among them in recent years.
The problem is that there’s no sense of suspense. It’s completely predictable.
They often rely too heavily on jump scares, and there’s way too much focus on the gore. It leaves nothing to the imagination.
Michael Myers was scary because he was unpredictable, and you may or may not see him do the deed.
Laurie Strode may run into him or just happen upon someone who got killed off-screen. There was suspense.
Horror movies need suspense. They need to be unpredictable. And they shouldn’t just rely on cheap jump scares.
We should make horror movies scary again.
MULANEY KILLS IN MEMPHIS
And now for something completely different.
Tuesday, my fiancée and I had the chance to see John Mulaney at The Orpheum in Memphis.
For those who don’t know who that is, Mulaney is a comedian who used to be on the writing staff for “Saturday Night Live.”
He has a few specials on Netflix that I’d recommend to anyone who enjoys a good stand-up comedy show. Warning: He’s not for kids.
Right now, Mulaney is traveling the United States on his “Kid Gorgeous” tour.
I really enjoy stand-up, so it seemed like it would be a good time. And was it ever.
I don’t know if I have ever laughed so hard, so much in the span of an hour and a half. I was sore and had almost no voice on Wednesday because of the show.
Mulaney discussed a variety of topics — politics, family, college, etc. — but the best part was seeing how relatable he was to his audience.
That, I think, is the key to being a good comedian — relating to your audience.
It was truly a great experience that I won’t soon forget.
CHANCE FARMER is a Martin resident who is lifestyles editor and copy editor for The Post-Intelligencer. He can be reached by email at cfarmer@parispi.net.
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