GORIED TREASURES has been reimagined as a column with every entry focusing on random horror movies that are deserving of the spotlight. Be it indie, foreign, or simply something that is underappreciated by the masses, the goal is to put these films on everyone’s radars.
The Pack
Dir. Robert Clouse
1977
Success always encourages imitators. Every industry, especially film, follows this unwritten rule without fail. Case in point: Steven Spielberg’s Jaws influenced a number of similarly themed movies about nature running amok or getting its revenge on mankind. The creature feature is definitely older than a 1975 epic where a shark haunts an island community, but the decade certainly saw a resurgence. From bats to piranhas, no animal was safe from Hollywood’s agenda.
Many eco-horrors dealt with beasts turning into murderous mutants thanks to pollution, but then there were movies like The Pack (also known as The Long Dark Night) that stuck to the basics. Based on the novel of the same name by David Fisher, the titular mongrels are really the abandoned pets of Seal Island tourists. The canine companions are left behind to fend for themselves. Unfortunately for current and new residents, the dogs decide they have had enough.
It’s man versus nature in The Pack. The movie is told completely straight and without any intentional campiness. There is a discernible sadness to the story that will make viewers sympathize with the dogs while also remaining concerned for the humans. On that note, there are numerous dog stunts that will leave animal lovers undoubtedly uncomfortable.
The Pack is a good time for anyone okay with no-frills action and suspense. It’s not exactly a thinking movie, but it posits humans and dogs remain wary of one another, regardless of their relationship.
Mr. Wrong
Dir. Gaylene Preston
1984
Having your own car is a big sign of independence. The protagonist in the little-known New Zealand movie Mr. Wrong knows this fact all too well. Which is why Meg (Heather Bolton) buys herself a used Jaguar. Upon realizing there is something eerie about the vehicle, she tries to unload it on someone else. Not an easy task seeing as the car has decided it belongs with Meg.
New Zealand doesn’t produce a high volume of horror movies like other parts of the West, but what it does create, is often unique. Mr. Wrong (Dark of the Night in the U.S.) is a coming-of-age curio. The main character is a nervous mess who many people would relate to nowadays. She has a lot of growing up to do, and she thinks a car is the means to after moving out of her parents’ house.
An interesting thing about Gaylene Preston’s debut feature is that it tries so hard to not be a horror movie. There are spooky sequences in addition to a strangeness in the atmosphere, yet so much of the film acts like an antithesis of its own genre. Even so, there’s no denying this is a ghost story.
Ultimately, Mr. Wrong is emotional as much as it is supernatural. There’s an important lesson here about being there for others when the world gets a bit too real and scary.
Whispering Corridors 3: Wishing Stairs
Dir. Yun Jae-yeon
2003
The authoritarian practices of the South Korean school systems were highlighted in the five-volume Whispering Corridors franchise. Abusive teachers and unfair practices were called out by these adolescent horror movies. The third self-contained entry branches away in favor of something more commercial.
The previous films, also standalone, dealt with taboo subject matters in South Korea, including academic anarchy and homosexuality. Wishing Stairs centers around an urban legend at an all-girls school. When one reaches the top of the movie’s namesake, a twenty-ninth step magically appears; the person is then granted one wish. In most cases, though, the wish has terrible consequences.
With long-haired, female ghosts like Sadako firmly rooted in then-modern East Asian horror, the trope was bound to find its way into the popular Whispering Corridors series. Her inclusion here is mostly unobtrusive as the greater terror stems from the troubled, interpersonal relationships. A close friendship sours over petty competition; a social outcast succumbs to the alienation she’s endured for so long.
Artistically, the Whispering Corridors saga became more and more polished-looking with each new entry. Wishing Stairs is no exception as the movie stuns with its exquisite yet unsettling imagery. Heightened by a supernatural component (the stairs work like the cursed Monkey’s Paw from W. W. Jacobs’ famous short story), all the juvenile, Giselle-inspired angst finally transforms into an outright display of scholastic scares and homoerotic wrath.