179 - The Others (2001) & Lake Mungo (2008) →

CW: Suicide, Infanticide, Child Abuse, Rape

It’s Ghostly Grief Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey watch some really depressing horror movies that share more than one specific thematic link. And Chris gets what he asked for!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: The Others (2001)
"A woman who lives in her darkened old family house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that the home is haunted” (IMDb.com). The Others takes a very interesting spin on a classic haunting story and then buries under a climactic twist. If you didn't like it the first time you watched it, maybe go back and give it another watch with a different perspective.

The Modern Film: Lake Mungo (2008)
"Strange things start happening after a girl is found drowned in a lake” (IMDb.com). Lake Mungo is a completely po-faced mockumentary about the family left behind after a tragedy and it commits to that concept in ways almost no other horror film does. It could have lost a few of its numerous ideas and spent more time developing the ones that really matter to the movie's core themes (and is it just a recreation of Twin Peaks' primary mystery?), but it's definitely worth watching to find out if it's your thing.

Audio Sources:
"Lake Mungo" produced by Mungo Productions, et al.
"The Others" produced by Canal+, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones

087 - Thesis (1996) & Kill Me Please (2015) →

CW: Suicide, Torture, Graphic Discussion of Rape and Murder

It’s the end of another school year on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey are getting intellectual with two horror movies about school that you have to read!

The Classic Film: Thesis [Tesis] (1996)
"While doing a thesis about violence, Ángela finds a snuff video where a girl is tortured [to] death. Soon she discovers that the girl was a former student in her [college]" (IMDb.com). This 90s foreign classic comes to us from Spain and asks the important question: "Should filmmakers strive to give audiences what they want when what they want is violence?"

The Modern Film: Kill Me Please [Mate-me Por Favor] (2015)
"Barra da Tijuca, West Side Zone of Rio de Janeiro. A wave of murders plague the area. What starts off as a morbid curiosity for the local youth slowly begins to spoil away at their lives. Among them is Bia, a fifteen-year-old girl. After an encounter with death, she will do anything to make sure she's alive" (IMDb.com). This Brazilian/Argentine festival darling has a lot to say about growing up as a young woman in the modern day. But is its dreamlike beauty and emotional metaphor enough to make up for a lack of… anything else?

Get more at podsematary.com! Read our Afterthoughts at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1134946933733068802

Audio Sources:
"Kill Me Please [Mate-me Por Favor]" produced by Bananeira Filmes, et al.
"A League of Their Own" produced by Columbia Pictures & Parkway Productions
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"The Princess Bride" produced by Act III Communications, et al.
"Split" produced by Universal Pictures, et al.
"Thesis [Tesis]" produced by Las Producciones del Escorpión & Sogepaq
"Tom Hanks/Lady Gaga" (Saturday Night Live S42E04) produced by Broadway Video & SNL Studios