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This article contains spoilers for "Immaculate."

The Sydney Sweeney nunsploitation flick "Immaculate" is having one hell of an opening weekend. Not only does the film now hold the distinction of earning Neon's biggest opening weekend ever domestically, but the borderline Satanic panic coming from evangelical conservatives losing their minds over the film has been the type of grassroots marketing campaign a PR can only dream of. After the now-deleted account @AuroraFaced posted the best possible pull quote for the film by writing on X (formerly Twitter), "Libs saw how the anti-woke crowd embraced Sydney Sweeney as their new darling and right away had to shove her in this blasphemous, Satanic, feminist, pro-abortion, anti-life movie degrading Christians! This movie also debases Mary, Mother of the Christ!", Neon, who distributed the film, quickly turned the post into a viral poster, and most certainly inspired some ticket purchases in the process.

"Immaculate...

Between The Nun II, Sister Death, Consecration, the upcoming The First Omen, and the newly released Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney, it’s safe to say that nuns are having a moment in horror. So often, fear thrives in the unlit nooks of the unknown, and for many of us, that includes those who dedicate themselves to religious orders. Shrouded in intrigue and literal fabric, the combo of unwavering religious devotion and rejection of various worldly pleasures makes nuns ripe for genre exploration. While nuns are certainly trending, this is by no means the first time horror has blessed us with terrifying tales featuring such religious women.

In Häxan (1922), possessed nuns mingle with witches as director Benjamin Christensen explores the connection between mental health and mass hysteria. With movies like Alucarda (1975), Ms. 45 (1981), and St. Agatha (2018), the subgenre of nunsploitation comes into play to further explore themes of religious and sexual oppression.

While there’s plenty to be said and appreciated about cozy, comforting horror that offers catharsis, the genre’s ultimate aim is to terrify, shock, and even repulse. Of course, there is no shortage of ways that filmmakers accomplish this, frequently through gore, violence, and potent scare tactics, but transgressive horror is in a league of its own.

More than just gore, transgressive horror films revel in the taboo. Transgressive horror shatters cultural norms and seeks to explore beyond the boundaries of taste and social sensibilities, challenging viewers with shocking and sacrilegious imagery and themes. And yet, it’s not solely for shock value; transgressive horror has more on its mind than simply gore and depictions of depravity. There’s a purpose behind the pain. This week’s streaming picks are for the seekers of extreme cinema, unafraid to test their limits.

Here’s where you can stream them this week.

Speaking at the press conference announcing the Monterrey Film Festival’s 2023 edition, Lorena Villarreal, the festival’s president of the board, hailed the event’s ambitions for its @Nuevo León industry section, “which will undoubtedly be an important hub connecting Mexican and global cinema,” she said.

With newly hired Diana Cadavid, a seasoned programmer at TIFF and artistic director-programmer of the Laliff and Cali film festivals managing the section, Ficmonterrey has signaled its intent to become a new, unmissable appointment for the international entertainment industry.

This year’s edition will include over 15 industry events, encompassing panels, masterclasses, workshops, and conversations with prominent industry professionals. The plans for next year will include Works in Progress and Screenwriting Labs, says Cadavid.

@Nuevo León industry will present four programming tracks: The Voices of Female Directors with its guest country, Korea; In Conversation With…; Panoramas: Industry Encounters and Visions Nuevo León.

The Voices of...

In this time of geekery and craft reigning supreme, film critics and academics no longer reject horror movies with the knee-jerk certainty some once did. But even now the specter of “elevated horror” (see that concept’s lambasting in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett’s “Scream 5”) looms over discussions of artier explorations of dread and terror — Ari Aster’s “Midsommar,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” Rose Glass’ “Saint Maud” — that are clearly distinguished from, well, non-elevated horror. The general gist is that these exceptions to the “horror is bad” rule engage your brain more than just showing brains: eaten by zombies or splattered against the wall.

How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath — that inspire such an intense physical reaction — also be cerebral experiences? The answer is obvious enough. Viewers forget all the time that, as Anna Karina...

Why do horror movies still feel undervalued? One thing’s for certain: In this age of geekery and craft reigning supreme, critics and academics no longer dismiss the genre as disreputable with the kneejerk regularity some once did. But even now there’s talk of “elevated horror” (see that concept’s lambasting in “Scream 5″) appearing in artier explorations of dread and terror — Ari Aster’s “Midsommar,” Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria,” Rose Glass’ “Saint Maud” — that are clearly distinguished from, well, non-elevated horror. The idea being that they engage your brain more than just showing brains…eaten by zombies or splattered against the wall.

How can films that fire your adrenal glands, send shivers down your spine, raise goosebumps, and quicken your breath — that inspire such an intense physical reaction — also be cerebral experiences? We forget all the time that, as Anna Karina’s “Pierrot Le Fou” character Marianne Renoir says,...

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro discusses a few of his favorite movies with Josh and Joe.

Show Notes:

Movies Referenced In This Episode

Nightmare Alley (2021)

Nightmare Alley (1947) – Stuart Gordon’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Drive My Car (2021)

Wicked Woman (1953) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

The Great Dictator (1940)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Vertigo (1958) – Dan Ireland’s trailer commentary, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s review

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)

The Young And The Damned (1950)

Gone With The Wind (1939)

The Golem (1920) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Sunrise: A Song Of Two Humans (1927)

Alucarda (1977)

Greed (1924) – Dennis Cozzalio’s Muriel Awards capsule review

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

District 9 (2009) – John Sayles...

For this week’s Blu-ray and DVD releases, we have an eclectic group of titles making their way home on Tuesday. If you missed Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island in theaters, you can finally catch up with it on either Blu or DVD, and for those of you Idle Hands fans out there, you’re definitely going to want to grab a copy of Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition release this week, too.

Mondo Macabro is celebrating Satanico Pandemonium with a brand new 4K transfer of the film, and the Warner Archives Collection strikes gold yet again with their Blu for The Mystery of the Wax Museum.

Other home media releases for May 12th include You Die, A Nun’s Curse, Evil Little Things, The Voices (2020), and Weird Fiction.

Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island

In Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña) makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true...

The James Wan-led “Conjuring Universe” is filled with creepy houses, family turmoil, possessed children (The Conjuring 2), and children’s toys & games gone wrong (both Annabelle films). Besides the fact that The Nun takes place in 1952 which is well before the other four films in this universe, the film brings a stark change of environment by setting the scares in a monastery compared to the usual family households. Of course, with this eerie setting, a whole new style of scares and creepy imagery await audiences anticipating this scary new entry in the series.

The Nun follows the evil entity first introduced in The Conjuring 2. But before seeing the film when it opens this Friday, September 7th, let’s dive into a world of religious horror filled with nasty nuns, satanic spirits, and malevolent monasteries. Holy hell, let’s pray we make it out alive!

The Church (1989)

When you...

Special mention: Häxan

Directed by Benjamin Christensen

Denmark / Sweden, 1922

Genre: Documentary

Häxan (a.k.a The Witches or Witchcraft Through The Ages) is a 1922 silent documentary about the history of witchcraft, told in a variety of styles, from illustrated slideshows to dramatized reenactments of alleged real-life events. Written and directed by Benjamin Christensen, and based partly on Christensen’s study of the Malleus Maleficarum, Häxan is a fine examination of how superstition and the misunderstanding of mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts. At the time, it was the most expensive Scandinavian film ever made, costing nearly 2 million Swedish krona. Although it won acclaim in Denmark and Sweden, the film was banned in the United States and heavily censored in other countries for what were considered, at that time, graphic depictions of torture, nudity, and sexual perversion. Depending on which version you’re watching, the commentary is...

Sometimes it’s psychological. Sometimes it’s visceral. It can be a masked killer’s twisted pastime. A labyrinth our poor heroes must find their way out of. Perhaps a nasty round of torture by the Big Bad. Whatever it is, the sick feeling of impending doom overcomes us as we realize the characters might not make it out alive. Sometimes they can think their way through. Sometimes they can fight. But when the exits are closed and the madman decides to get creative, all bets are off.

****

Alucarda, La Hija De Las Tinieblas / Innocents From Hell (1977) – A Dracula takes revenge

Director Juan López Moctezuma came along during the new wave of 70′s Mexican genre pics that expressed radical and subversive views. An important intellectual figure in Mexico in the fifties, sixties, and seventies, Moctezuma produced Jodorowsky’s El Topo and Fando Y Lis. Of his three horror films (which also includes Mansion of Madness,...

As Deliver Us From Evil lands on disc in the UK, we look back at key lessons the movies teach us about possession...

The idea of demonic possession goes back thousands of years, to before we had film. Most religions carry their own interpretation of what it means for a person to be 'possessed' by a demon or a spirit and it's a complicated, arcane subject shrouded in mystery and ritual.

The Sumerians, thousands of years before Christ, believed all diseases were caused by 'sickness demons' and had their sorcerers attempt early exorcisms as cures. The Quran talks extensively of Jinn (demons) that can drive people to insanity and may only be expelled via worship. In the Bible, Satan and his demons are very much at large using human beings as vessels for devilish deeds. Jesus casts a whole bunch of them out before he's accused of being demon-possessed himself...

The good folks at Mexican distribution company ZatMeni know very well that the Twitch reader loves weird and cult movies. They also dig that kind of glorious stuff, actually; proof is that their DVD catalog includes the Juan López Moctezuma collection, with three films by this cult Mexican director, plus the documentary on his most famous picture, Alucarda. And so, ZatMeni has been kind enough to give us six DVD copies of Alucarda, one of the quintessential titles if you talk about Mexican horror cinema. Moctezuma passed away on August 2, 1995; since then, his work has been gaining more and more popularity within new generations, with film festivals like Macabro and Morelia paying respect to his legacy. I don't think we need any more excuses...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Every year, we here at Sound On Sight celebrate the month of October with 31 Days of Horror; and every year, I update the list of my favourite horror films ever made. Last year, I released a list that included 150 picks. This year, I’ll be upgrading the list, making minor alterations, changing the rankings, adding new entries, and possibly removing a few titles. I’ve also decided to publish each post backwards this time for one reason: the new additions appear lower on my list, whereas my top 50 haven’t changed much, except for maybe in ranking. Enjoy!

****

Special Mention:

Shock Corridor

Written and directed by Samuel Fuller

USA, 1963

Shock Corridor stars Peter Breck as Johnny Barrett, an ambitious reporter who wants to expose the killer at the local insane asylum. To solve the case, he must pretend to be insane so they have him committed. Once in the asylum,...

Here's a Planet Fury-approved selection of notable genre DVD releases for the months of February and March 2013.

The Blob (1958) Criterion Collection Blu-ray & DVD Available Now

This entertaining low-budget favorite gets some well-deserved respect from the folks at Criterion. A gelatinous creature from outer space begins to devour the inhabitants of a small town. Each time it consumes a new body, it grows bigger. A couple of teens (including the wooden Steve McQueen) attempt to warn the town and save the population from certain blech! Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr. directs the mayhem with a sure hand while Bart Sloane's great special effects still pack a punch. Followed by the bizarre comedy sequel, Son of Blob, in the early ’70s (directed by Larry Hagman!) and a great, underrated remake in 1988 by Chuck Russell.

Special Features:

* New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

* Two audio commentaries: one by producer Jack H. Harris...

Ever since the release of the Academy Award nominated The Exorcist, back in 1973, Hollywood has benefited quite a bit from movies about exorcism, and the box office numbers show no signs of recession. With the release of The Last Exorcism 2, I decided to spotlight three films that are criminally overlooked, and that I think fans would definitely enjoy.

****

Here Comes the Devil

Directed Adrián García Bogliano

Screenplay by Adrián García Bogliano

2012, Mexico

From Argentinian filmmaker Adrián García Bogliano, Here Comes the Devil, is a coming of age tale of demonic possession, sexual awakening and suspected child abuse. Staying clear of the typical traps of exploitation, Bogliano takes a low-key, less graphic approach to the unearthly proceedings. This isn’t your standard possession film. That’s not to say there aren’t displays of the supernatural, but those hoping for frightening exorcisms may be disappointed (although you will get scenes of levitation,...

Throughout the month of October, Editor-in-Chief and resident Horror expert Ricky D, will be posting a list of his favorite Horror films of all time. The list will be posted in six parts. Click here to see every entry.

As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. It was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried and eventually gave up.

****

Special Mention: Gremlins

Directed by Joe Dante

Written by Chris Columbus

1984, USA

Gremlins gets a special mention because I’ve always considered it more of a comedy and a wholesome Christmas flick than an actual horror film. This tribute the 1950s matinee genre stands the test of time from a time when parents would take their children to family films that pushed the boundaries of the MPAA. Joe Dante is...

Choosing my favourite horror films of all time is like choosing between my children – not that I have children, but if I did, I am sure I would categorize them quite like my DVD collection. As with all lists, this is personal and nobody will agree with every choice – and if you do, that would be incredibly disturbing. Also, it was almost impossible for me to rank them in order, but I tried. I based my list taking into consideration three points:

1- Technical accomplishments / artistry and their influence on the genre.

2- How many times I’ve revisited the films and how easily it makes for a repeated viewings.

3- Its story, atmosphere and how much it affected me when I first watched them.

Finally, there are many great films such as The Witchfinder General, The Wickerman and even Hour Of The Wolf that won’t appear here. I...

For the horror buff, Fall is the best time of the year. The air is crisp, the leaves are falling and a feeling of death hangs on the air. Here at Sound on Sight we have some of the biggest horror fans you can find. We are continually showcasing the best of genre cinema, so we’ve decided to put our horror knowledge and passion to the test in a horror watching contest. Each week in October, Ricky D, James Merolla and Justine Smith will post a list of the horror films they have watched. By the end of the month, the person who has seen the most films wins. Prize Tbd.

Ricky D (15 Viewings) Total of 29 Viewings

Purchase

Thirst (1979)

Directed by Rod Hardy

The film is best described as one long dream sequence with nods to David Cronenberg, Rosemary’s Baby and perhaps even Solyent Green. Thirst features some superb in-camera visual effects,...