Listen now | Today’s movie is Shaun of the Dead directed by Edgar Wright. While this movie has a few memorable moments, it just isn’t very fun to watch. Edgar Wright’s signature directorial style is very distinctive and there are a few really well shot scenes, but for the most part his flashy style doesn’t really serve any purpose. The story feels aimless and a bit sparse, like it would’ve been better off as a short film. For us,
Oct 28, 2023·edited Oct 28, 2023Liked by Anna Rettberg
Agree 100% with you about Edgar Wright, not much else to add.
For horror-comedy recommendations, not an easy genre but maybe White Noise and Eraserhead? There's also Blue Jam by Chris Morris that could fit the bill.
Maybe something else that you could find interesting is short stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko. It's satire but it's so intense that I guess it classifies as horror. On Britannica they describe his writing like this: "Despite their extraordinary humour, Zoshchenko’s stories paint a horrifying picture of life in Soviet Russia." Anyway, I like these a lot.
Also, you talked about Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack for Gremlins, one of his inspirations is Shostakovich, who's like the first composer to blend horror and humour. He uses circus music next to very dissonant and ugly chords. It's not really "funny" though, it's more satire. Ligeti does humour-horror juxtaposition too, like in his violin concerto, you have child-like out of tune flutes https://youtu.be/iUDOoyg2Kog?si=awRK3pPUJPjIrQ5M&t=391 and dissonant stab-like chords by the violas https://youtu.be/iUDOoyg2Kog?si=BPpHuzzsdYElCqRi&t=996
Just off the top of my head, these are the works I'd recommend checking out. I also would be interested if anyone else has suggestions!
Agree 100% with you about Edgar Wright, not much else to add.
For horror-comedy recommendations, not an easy genre but maybe White Noise and Eraserhead? There's also Blue Jam by Chris Morris that could fit the bill.
Maybe something else that you could find interesting is short stories by Mikhail Zoshchenko. It's satire but it's so intense that I guess it classifies as horror. On Britannica they describe his writing like this: "Despite their extraordinary humour, Zoshchenko’s stories paint a horrifying picture of life in Soviet Russia." Anyway, I like these a lot.
Also, you talked about Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack for Gremlins, one of his inspirations is Shostakovich, who's like the first composer to blend horror and humour. He uses circus music next to very dissonant and ugly chords. It's not really "funny" though, it's more satire. Ligeti does humour-horror juxtaposition too, like in his violin concerto, you have child-like out of tune flutes https://youtu.be/iUDOoyg2Kog?si=awRK3pPUJPjIrQ5M&t=391 and dissonant stab-like chords by the violas https://youtu.be/iUDOoyg2Kog?si=BPpHuzzsdYElCqRi&t=996
Just off the top of my head, these are the works I'd recommend checking out. I also would be interested if anyone else has suggestions!