Blog Tour Guest Post with McCormick Templeton, Author in Slasher Girls and Monster Boys

Welcome to the blog tour for Slasher Girls and Monster Boys! Today I'm featuring the lovely McCormick Templeton, who as written a fabulous guest post about underrated horror movies!

Meet McCormick!

I’m so excited to be a part of the anthology Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, which has just come out and features so many incredible authors! It’s my turn on the blog tour, and to celebrate the book’s release I want to share with you some of the scariest movies out there - ones you might not have heard of.  The Shining, The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, Halloween -- hopefully you’ve seen all these. If not, go watch them! But what about some truly awesome horror movies that are a little more off the beaten path? Here are:

MY TOP 10 UNDER-THE-RADAR HORROR MOVIES

1. Häxan (Benjamin Christensen, 1922): Ostensibly a documentary, this silent film is a creepily psychedelic exploration of superstition, witch hunts, and gruesome medieval practices. It was banned and censored at the time, and was wildly expensive to make. It’s still a trip to watch.

2. M (Fritz Lang, 1931): This early classic directed by Fritz Lang and starring Peter Lorre is about a city’s frantic search for a serial killer. It’s a gorgeous, terrifying film, and Lang’s first “talkie.” Although no actual violence is depicted onscreen, the haunting visuals, Peter Lorre’s creeptastic eyes, and the constant whistle of Grieg’s “In The Hall of The Mountain King” that presages the killer’s arrival are enough to give you shivers.

Peter Lorre in M

3. Les Diaboliques (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955): At a remote French boarding school, a tyrannical headmaster is finally taught a lesson. A wife and mistress conspire to murder him, but things go wrong. They go very very wrong. 

4. Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977): Hopefully this isn’t one you’ve missed, but I’ve included it just in case because if you haven’t seen it yet, you must go watch it immediately! Don’t even finish reading this list. One of the very best horror movies of all time, the soundtrack alone (Goblin!) is enough to reduce a simple lass to a quivering puddle of prog rock twitches. Suzy Bannion is off to ballet school in Germany. Only the ballet school is filled with witches, there are maggots falling from the ceiling, and everything is hysterically, exuberantly, eye-poppingly red. I can’t explain! Just watch it. It’s Suspiria!

Jessica Harper in Suspiria

5. The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982) The members of an Antarctic expedition discover what appears to be an ancient flying saucer frozen in the ice. Further examination of the ship unleashes a thing of pure nightmare. A nice companion to Ridley Scott’s inimitable Alien, The Thing was a box office disappointment when it was first released, but has since established a cult following. Because it’s awesome.

6. The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988): A young couple stops at a crowded rest stop. She goes into the gas station for drinks and never comes out again. The boyfriend refuses to give up his search and eventually after years on the kidnapper’s trail, he finally comes face to face with him. That’s when things get really scary. There was an American remake, but skip it. The Dutch original is where it’s at.

7. The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) Pan’s Labyrinth is on everyone’s radar for good reason, but del Toro’s earlier film has a special place in my heart. Set at an orphanage during the Spanish Civil war, this film follows new arrival, Carlos as he tries to make sense of his war-ravaged childhood. The backdrop of the dry Spanish landscape, and the political atmosphere make for an unusual and deeply unsettling film. Oh, and obviously the orphanage is haunted. How could it not be?

The Devil’s Backbone

8. The Eye (Pang brothers, 2002): A woman who has been blind since the age of two undergoes surgery that gives her sight. This seems like a good thing until she starts seeing dead people. The cinematography is stylish, the pace is fun and quick, and the ghosts in this one are truly disturbing, especially because the main character lacks the visual vocabulary to know for certain what they are.

9. A Tale of Two Sisters (Kim Jee-woon, 2003): Gorgeous production design, magnificent color, and a sinewy plot make this Korean film a treat for the senses. An adolescent girl recently released from a mental hospital tries to re-adjust to life at home, but something strange is going on. Her dad is distant, her step-mother is terrifying, and her younger sister may or may not be the victim of abuse. After a lot of quiet, the movie descends into blood and gore and bodies in laundry bags. And what’s in the closet? What is in there???

10. The House of the Devil (Ti West, 2009): All of Ti West’s movies are great, but The House of The Devil is my favorite. Shot on 16mm, it’s an homage to the slasher movies of the 70s and early 80s. Lovely coed Samantha takes a job as a babysitter. Everything about the job is creepy, and when she finally gets to the house, she discovers that the person she’ll be babysitting isn’t a child, and also she probably shouldn’t go in that upstairs room. The House of The Devil is an exercise in exquisitely ratcheted tension culminating in a blood-bath denouement that gives Dario Argento (see above) a run for his money. 

There you have it. 10 off-the-beaten-path horror movies I think you might enjoy. Hopefully some of these suggestions will be up your alley. Now go watch something scary!

About the Book:

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys, edited by April Tucholke

Publisher: Dial Books

Publication Date: August 18, 2015

Summary (from Goodreads):

For fans of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Lois Duncan, and Daphne Du Maurier comes a powerhouse anthology featuring some of the best writers of YA thrillers and horror 

A host of the smartest young adult authors come together in this collection of scary stories and psychological thrillers curated by Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’s April Genevieve Tucholke.

Each story draws from a classic tale or two—sometimes of the horror genre, sometimes not—to inspire something new and fresh and terrifying. There are no superficial scares here; these are stories that will make you think even as they keep you on the edge of your seat. From bloody horror to supernatural creatures to unsettling, all-too-possible realism, this collection has something for any reader looking for a thrill.

Fans of TV’s The Walking Dead, True Blood, and American Horror Story will tear through tales by these talented authors:

Stefan Bachmann

Leigh Bardugo

Kendare Blake

A. G. Howard

Jay Kristoff

Marie Lu

Jonathan Maberry

Danielle Paige

Carrie Ryan

Megan Shepherd

Nova Ren Suma

McCormick Templeman

April Genevieve Tucholke

Cat Winters

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | The Book Depository

Follow the rest of the tour!

Stefan Bachmann - 8/10 – Winterhaven Books

Leigh Bardugo - 8/11 – The Hiding Spot

Kendare Blake - 8/12 – Reading Teen

A. G. Howard  - 8/13 – Page Turners Blog

Marie Lu - 8/14 – Gone With the Words

Jonathan Maberry - 8/17 – Bookish Antics

April Genevieve Tucholke - 8/18 – Distracted Blogger

Danielle Paige - 8/19 – The Irish Banana

Carrie Ryan - 8/20 – Katie’s Book Blog

Megan Shepherd - 8/21 – Jessabella Reads

Nova Ren Suma - 8/24 - Bookiemoji

McCormick Templeman  - 8/25 – The Eater of Books!

Cat Winters - 8/26 – Seeing Double in Neverland

Jay Kristoff – 8/27 - Fangirlish