My Other Car is a Horror Movie

I believe in science.

I know science doesn’t care whether or not I believe in it. That’s one of the things I love about it.

But I believe in it anyway, and consider myself a pretty rational dude.

But I love horror movies. And horror books. And horror games. And generally spooky and mysterious stuff. I was a teenager during what was lovingly dubbed “The Satanic Panic.” And me and my best friend were into all the things that marked us as secret Satanic cult members: heavy metal, comic books, Dungeons and Dragons, horror movies, Stephen King books, the color black, etc.

Nevermind that all those things fucking rule.

We didn’t worship Satan, we didn’t know any Satanists, and nobody asked us to join their cult. Even if they had, we were teenagers and young, introverted weirdos, who—as a rule—were not big ‘joiners.’

But, in a lot of the stuff I love, the rational people are the bad guys. Or, if they’re not part of the problem, they’re definitely not part of the solution. Case in point, my favorite movie of 2024, “Oddity,” written and directed by Damien McCarthy, casts its villain as the most rational character. Smug in his scorn for the supernatural.

The same scorn for the coldly rational fuels another favorite of mine, 2017’s “Ghost Stories.” In that case, the protagonist, Dr. Phillip Goodman, delights in debunking a psychic whose worst crime seems to be giving a dead boy’s mother some solace, and arrogantly belittles those who believe in things they cannot strictly see or touch. And the audience eventually delights in seeing his own cowardice and hypocrisy revealed.

So, all this begs the question, why do I celebrate being rational and not believing in the supernatural, and simultaneously delight in seeing characters who share my beliefs being punished?

I like a good cautionary tale?

And while I consider myself pretty rational, I also love art and music, poetry, and mystery, and heavy metal, and Dungeons and Dragons and . . . well, you get the picture. I don’t believe in a big Sky Daddy or a cloven-hoofed guy with a pointy stick punishing us if we’re bad. But I sure do feel like we’re all connected in a way that’s hard to quantify and far too easy for some folks to ignore.

Call it spirituality (if you must) but whatever it is, I think it’s a necessary balance to the rational. Note, that I didn’t say it was a replacement for the rational. That way madness lies. Just look around. I think we have to have both. And don’t get too hung on what-is-what or where the line is. Just don't live strictly on one side.

So, be rational. But don’t be a dick about it. Science doesn’t need you to defend it. Science gonna science with or without you. Be open to the people around you and what they need. They need the art, the music, the Dungeons and Dragons. And so do you. Denying it doesn’t make you cool, it makes you kind of an asshole.

Denying it also means you’re very likely to meet a bad end in a horror movie I love.

And, you will richly deserve it.

Here is my list of the best of 2024, if anyone’s asking:

1. Oddity

2. All You Need is Death

3. Red Rooms

4. Late Night with the Devil

5. The Vourdalak

6. Azrael

7. The Substance

8. Abigail

9. Smile 2

10. The Devil’s Bath

It was kind of a great year for horror movies. There are a few that I’m seeing on a lot of lists that are decidedly absent from mine: Longlegs, Cuckoo, In a Violent Nature, and Trap. I don’t normally spend much time talking about stuff I don’t dig, but despite not being on my list, these all have things to recommend them (except maybe Trap, WTF?) I just think the ten on my list are a little better. But you know, your mileage may vary.

The topic of mystery in film and television is the main thrust of my podcast, Uncertain Equations. My friend Mark and I talk about more than a dozen films and then transition into a pretty detailed discussion of Twin Peaks, which is ongoing. If this seems like your kind of stuff maybe check it out. It’s absolutely not just an excuse to make my friend talk to me about weird movies.