On Friday nights, IndieWire After Dark takes a feature-length beat to honor fringe cinema in the streaming age . This September, we’re celebrating Back to School Night with four midnight movies that aren’t just academically themed but also teach the lessons essential to understanding this school of cinema. First, read the spoiler-free bait — a weird and wonderful pick from any time in film and why we think it’s worth memorializing.
After you’ve watched the movie, come back for the bite — a breakdown of all the spoiler-y moments you’d want to unpack when exiting a theater. “He looks dead,” panics the teenaged Lola (Robin McLeavy) while surveying the unconscious body of her prom date Brent (Xavier Samuel) in the trunk of her dad’s car. “You’ve ruined it!” “I didn’t use that much!” retorts Eric (John Brumpton), glumly defending his drugging talents.
With that exchange, horror ‘s most phenomenally fucked-up daddy-daughter duo kicks off a cascading comedy of errors that — regardless of its villains’ ample dialogue and lack of literal clowning — belongs in a class with “Dead Alive” and “Terrifier.” That’s a reflection not only of the movie’s over-the-top gore, but also its appreciation for pitch-black comedy and herculean feats of survival. It’s been a busy back-to-school season for IndieWire After Dark.
Ant Timpson and Tim League’s “The ABCs of Death” taught us the importance of tight-knit creative communities within the .