Escapism in horror, sci-fi and absurd film

Quite a reality we live in, huh? 🥴

It's kinda messed up. Kamikaze-trained harp seals with GoPros on their heads swim around our oceans while geopolitical toxic masculinity literally spills out across all continents.

On top of it all: AI.

There seems to be no end to it all.

That's why the Horror Rookie Academy offered a whole week of escapism in early February 2025.

...but what exactly is escapism in horror, sci-fi and absurdist film? It's not a genre, is it? We introduced the topic like this:

- SUBJECTIVE:

For some, _all_ films can actually be an escape from reality. Here we are looking for tips on which films/series (horror/sci-fi/absurd) are an escape from reality for you. There are no right or wrong answers here. 😁

- HUMOR:

Humor strikes me like a joker in this game. For example, I laughed my way through The Human Centipede; for me it was a very unrealistic comedy - and then I know that my mother would perceive the film a little differently. (I accidentally saw David Cronenberg's Crash with her, so I know this...) 😆

- SCI-FI:

Sci-fi is central to film-driven escape from reality for many. Away from Earth, into space, down into mines on unknown planets... Sci-fi often leaves reality behind (or twists it so that it appears alien)

- THE FANTASTIC:

Then you have "Of course, the fantastic and adventurous horror films, magical realism and the one with you others. A cure for wellness and Motivational growth are two examples of this, films that don't leave reality completely, but that hover around the border between the real you and the unreal. That's always interesting!"

It was a great week at the Horror Rookie Academy! You can see the tips below. Feel free to consult this list when everything gets a bit too much.

Here you will have something else to think about than Trump and energy prices, to put it that way. 😁

Tittel	År	IMDb
The Holy Mountain	1973	7.7
Space Station 76	2014	4.9
Rose Red	2002	6.7
The Day of the Triffids	2009	5.6
High Plains Invaders	2009	4.5
Septichexen (short)	2023	not rated
Tusk	2014	5.4
The Gate	1987	6
dagon	2001	6.2
Underwater	2020	5.9
eXistenZ	1999	6.8
The Harbinger	2022	5.4
As Above so Below	2014	6.3
Color out of Space	2019	6.2
Night of the Creeps	1986	6.7
The Stuff	1985	5.9
Dark City	1998	7.6
The Company of Wolves	1984	6.6
REC 4: Apocalipsis	2014	5.3
The River	2012	6.8
Army of Darkness	1992	7.4
Tremors: Shrieker Island	2020	5.4
Visitors	2022	5.5
Big Bug	2022	5.5
The autopsy of Jane Doe	2016	6.8
The Monster Project	2017	4.5
Deep Blue Sea	1999	5.9
Pitch Black	2000	7

Others are checking out:

Hillbilly vs outback horror!

Hillbilly Horror is an American subgenre, often rooted in the concept of Southern Gothic , where a group of "civilized" outsiders (often young people from the city) venture into remote, rural areas—typically the Deep South, Appalachia, or the Southwest—and encounter a family or group of violent, often inbred, degenerate locals. Key Conventions of hillbilly horror are: Setting: Remote, isolated locations like deep woods, decaying farmhouses, abandoned roads, and dilapidated small towns, usually suggesting an area "forgotten" by modern society. The Villains: The antagonists are typically a family unit , often characterized by inbreeding, physical deformities, cannibalism, and extreme violence. They represent an unhinged, "monstrous" version of the rural poor. The Conflict: It's fundamentally a Clash of Cultures —city dwellers vs. country folk. The horror stems from the characters being stripped of their modern conveniences (like cell service or relia...

Masks in horror!

Masks are widely seen in horror films. But of course. Hidden identities and a visage without any visible emotions are the stuff nightmares are made of. Or masks made of the skin of a human head... Eeew! Leatherface, Jason Vorhees, Ghostface and Michael Myers were pioneers in the mask game. Those iconic roles have since been followed by a wide array of masked killers in horror. Increasingly cheezy, some might feel -myserlf being among them. The home invasion subgenre has in particular taken masks to its heart. The rookies at The Horror Rookie Academy recently endulged themselves in a Mask Saturday, shining a powerful mental light on masks in horror. Below is the list of 28 movie recommendations that followed. Enjoy! Nr Title Year IMDb 1 Scream 1996 7,4 2 StageFright 1987 6,6 3 Christmas Cruelty 2013 4,4 4 The Collector 2009 6,3 5 My Bloody Valentine 1981 6,3 6 My Bloody Valentine 2009 5,4 7 Onibaba 1964 7,8 8 The Orphanage 2007 7,4 9 Alice, Sweet Alice 1976 ...

The origin of the Horror Rookie Academy

The Horror Rookie Academy has been operational for 15 straight years now! Good heavens, it's almost unbelievable. It's time for a little look back at the origin of the Academy. When I was little, my dad worked as a captain in foreign trade, and my brother and I used to join the boat during the summer holidays. (It was a simpler time, before the age of HSE...) Norwegian seafarers are so lucky to have the Norwegian Sailor's Church (Sjømannskirken) which works for their well-being. The Sailor's Church used to run a library service on Norwegian ships, providing books and films for the sailors. Either someone responsible for such things at the Sailor's Church was a horror and sci-fi lover, or their insight into the contents of the films of the time was so-so: the library cabinet onboard the boat was filled with the VHS tapes that basically made me the horror fanatic I am today. Jaws, Frankenstein, The Shining, Poltergeist, Rosemary's Baby, The Thing... All of which w...

Body horror!

A truly unsettling and fascinating subgenre indeed, body horror (also known as biological or organic horror) is a type of horror fiction where the primary source of terror comes from the grotesque or psychologically disturbing violation, transformation, degeneration, or destruction of the physical body. It often plays on deep-seated anxieties about physical vulnerability and loss of control over one's own body. A key element is that the body's violation is usually not the result of immediate or initial violence, but rather a loss of conscious control over the body due to mutation, invasion, decay or scientific interference. The horror often centers on an individual watching their own body betray them, change, or collapse, rather than being hunted by an external creature. Guillermo del Toro famously described body horror as the "betrayal of the flesh." The genre intentionally invokes intense feelings of physical and psychological disgust, pushing the limits of what the...

Scary movies for kids!

When I was a kid, i loooved horror movies. Not horror movies for kids, no no no: the hardcore stuff. Movies children ought not watch. Movies that made me run up stairs like I was being chased by the Devil himself. I sometimes still do. And I'm 49 now. You see, my dad worked as a captain on ships that sailed in international waters when I was a kid. Norway has their own international church for sailors and other Norwegians residing abroad, The Norwegian Sailor's Church. These guys among many services supplied norwegian ships with books and films. Every ship had a little library trolley full of books and VHS's. At the same time, the HSE factor was quite low: sailors were allowed to bring their kids aboard their ships for summer holiday. I often spent 4-6 weeks aboard my dad's ships -and boy did I get all up in those movie trolleys! At night, when no one else was around, I brought my bag of foreign exotic candy, snuck into the galley, stole some treats from the pantry, p...

32 Liminal horror movies

Let's begin with the beginning: what in the world is "liminal" - and "liminal horror"? The word liminal itself is defined quite differently by different sources, but the essence is as follows: - a state/position at or on both sides of a threshold/border - a transition between states or the initial phase of a process of change As far as I understand, Liminal horror points to both this and at the same time to what is called liminal spaces , which are: - areas and architecture that lead you from something to something else, and which are not intended as anything more/other. Corridors, underpasses, aqueducts, airports, queues, waiting rooms... 'Non - destinational places', as my husband called it when I tried to explain it. Apt term! 😍 - Emotionally, liminal spaces are, for example, grief and growing up - Psychologically and socially, it's is 'nothing' between different feelings or states: the state of post partum and detox are two examp...

Feinschmecker giallo films!

It's really hard not to like giallo when you like horror movies. If you ask me. It has the seventies feel to it, it has slashing, practical effects, razors and negligees, black gloves and mansions. ...and the names of these movie, my goodness. "Aunt Martha does dreadful things", for example. 😍 One of our rookies is a regular cornucopia of knowledge of giallo, and he dug into his mind looking for the more obscure giallo movies. Enjoy! ✌ Murder Obsession (Riccardo Freda, 1980; Italian: Follia omicida) aka Fear, aka The Wailing, aka The Murder Syndrome The Secret of Seagull Island (Nestore Ungaro, 1981; Italian: L'isola del gabbiano) Madhouse (Ovidio Assonitis, 1981) aka There Was a Little Girl Tenebrae (Dario Argento, 1982) aka Unsane The Scorpion with Two Tails (Sergio Martino, 1982; Italian: Assassinio al cimitero etrusco / Murder in the Etruscan Cemetery) A Blade in the Dark (Lamberto Bava, 1982; Italian: La casa con la scala nel buio / The House with the Dar...

Yūrei: pray you never encounter one!

Dear reader: a violent storm is approaching Scandinavia. Red alerts of all sorts have been issued, and the populus is busy removing loose objects, filling up their water tanks and checking if they have enough batteries to last. Later tonight, when all Hell breaks loose , they will huddle together, step away from the windows, brace themselves and excert a nordic form of calm born through experience with hellish weather. But i digress. Now, let me take this occasion, to tell you about the nightgown - wearing ghost. Her face is covered by her long black hair. She is the one that comes crawling down the stairs and out of closets in you nightmares. The ghost that make this throat gurgling "moaaaaaaaaaaaaa" - sound that makes your skin crawl. The one that that comes crawling towards you, behind you, in the darkness to pull you... away. Away from this world. Let me tell you about yūrei! I will do so by telling you about one of the world's most well known and dreaded yūrei: Kay...

Weather horror!

Storms are violent atmospheric disturbances, characterized by low barometric pressure, cloud cover, heavy precipitation, strong winds and thunderbolts and lightning. Storms are also the perfect backdrop for many horror films. Of course. A stormy night with thunder ripping through heavy clouds has an inherent unrest, an inherent feeling of violent disturbance which a sunny summer day simply does not . It is almost like the stormy weather itself becomes an actor in the film. One of many many stormy Scandinavian nights, as the pitch black ocean thrashed relentlessly against our northern shores, made animals huddle and made people close the curtains and step away from the windows, the Rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy decided to roll with the punches and simply enjoy the raging chaos right outside our doors by conjuring up this list of horror movies portraying storms and extreme weather of all sorts. They did this for you, dear reader. This is all for you. 💗 Nr Title...

Dental Horror!

Teeth are hard, calcified structures in the mouth that are essential for breaking down food through chewing, forming words for speech, and maintaining overall oral health. They are also dreadful sources of pain, an object for torture and things that can get smashed out of your skull in a bloody instant. One starry friday night, a night of icy gusts of wind and of gerenal unrest in the populus, the Rookies at the Horror Rookie Academy decided to dive into the topic of dental horror: the portrayal of teeth in horror films. We decided to limit the topic to mainly human teeth, but since the sphere of horror is a transcendant and messy one, we of course welcomed other types of teeth in horror as well. Tusks, for example. Or simply messed up tooth-related stuff. The films listed below either centers around the topic of teeth or has predominant scenes portraying teeth in them. It is a creepy collection of films, this. Films that make your molars ice and throb just by th...

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