I almost didn’t make it last night but I just barely managed to sit down at 11 PM (before midnight! Yay!) for some movie watching.

I kicked off this year’s horror marathon with Beyond the Black Rainbow. Panos Cosmatos’s debut feature, it’s a real trip. Thanks to my friend Lauren for recommending this one! I really dug it.

Beyond-the-Black-Rainbow

Beyond the Black Rainbow, 2010. Dir. Panos Cosmatos, Written by Panos Cosmatos. Starring Eva Bourne, Michael Rogers.

Full disclosure, my critical thinking capacity is at a minimum right now, so don’t expect any grand insights here. Trippy is literally the best word I can come up with to describe this one (psychedelic might go along with that). It’s a weird, fun little movie that, while I enjoyed it, is definitely not going to be for everyone.

The plot here is thin. It’s about a girl trapped in a weird pseudo-science institute place with a disturbingly creepy doctor. She has some of sort mental, telepathic powers. And eventually she escapes.

That more or less covers it.

Set in 1983, Beyond the Black Rainbow is full of 80’s style. The influences are many. Kubrick, Cronenberg, Carpenter, Argento. Just to name a few. With the synth score I couldn’t stop thinking of The Shining.

Arguably more science fiction than horror, I feel like there’s enough happening here of the horror genre to qualify this one for my 31 days. The influences above certainly should be enough.

I’d write more but this is about as far as my brain is taking me right now. There are also a lot of interesting thematic issues to talk about. And this movie is just bizarre. I’d love to revisit it sometime.

Have you all seen it? Everyone else love it or am I the only crazy one?

If you have no idea what Beyond the Black Rainbow is, check out that trailer.

Any more recommendations for me? If it’s streaming, I’ll watch it!

Previous Years:
2013: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)
2012: The Haunting (1963)
2011: Nosferatu