This June on Shock, were having nightmares. I hope youre enjoying Shock Till You Drop in the months since Ive taken over as Managing Editor. One of my goals, alongside an emphasis on fun, meaty film writing next to the news, was a zine-like quality with thematic content and connective tissue throughout each month. We really pushed that in May, looking toward Poltergeist to explore remakes and branch off into other areas like PG & PG-13 horror. This June sees the release of both Rodney Aschers sleep paralysis horror-doc The Nightmare and Romain Bassetts lush lucid dream tale Horsehead. The two films, as well as this falls Before I Wake, give dreams or a dream-like state a real prominence in the narrative. They arent simply used as sequences for scares, or quick trips to a characters psyche; though theres nothing wrong with that, as youll see in We Are Still Here. Maybe its nothing, but I do find it a bit fascinating to see this resurgence. Were currently entrenched in an online atmosphere of outrage. Though many with truly horrid intentions can reveal themselves via public comment and social media, simple missteps in language for others can snowball to something much greater, while words are actually being weaponized. Its worrisome, and Im interested in the idea that our unconscious, our subconscious and our dreams might feel like the last safe space to let everything roam free. To pervert that, to invade that like a nightmare, well thats just scary. Am I on to something? Who knows? But were going to run with it and explore nightmares in scary movies, with pieces on nightmare sequences, waking nightmares, dissociative states in horror, Elm Street and more. Well also be getting into the big June releases, which just June 5th includes Hungry Hearts, Insidious: Chapter 3, The Nightmare and We Are Still Here. Thats not to mention this months absolute must-sees, the dreamy metaphysical tale The Midnight Swim and the challenging, feminist thriller Felt. Well also be kicking off summer camp season and taking on whatever else pops up along the way. Below, find Junes releases and let us know which youre most interested in seeing and hearing about. Again, I hope youre enjoying and discussing Shock, and I thank you for reading. Show Comments |