AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Let me ask you, is there anything scarier than an evil Santa Claus?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TERRIFIER 3")
JENNIFER JOHNSON: (As character) He's scaring my kids.
ANDREW HOLLINGER: (As character) Yeah. He's scaring me, too.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Hey. Santa's handing out presents.
UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: (As characters) Yay.
CHANG: Or how about Satan?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE FIRST OMEN")
RALPH INESON: (As Father Brennan) It's the mark of the devil.
CHANG: Or even aging?
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE SUBSTANCE")
DENNIS QUAID: (As Harvey) Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself - younger, more beautiful?
CHANG: I certainly have. These are all horror movies that came out this year. And, yes, my friends, it is that time of year again when I scare myself on purpose by talking to Rebekah McKendry. She's a director and critic of horror movies, and she joins us now to round up her favorites of the year. Hello, hello, Rebekah.
REBEKAH MCKENDRY: Hello.
CHANG: (Laughter).
MCKENDRY: It is awesome to be back doing this again, talking about...
CHANG: Oh.
MCKENDRY: ...My favorite subject.
CHANG: We love it when you stop by ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. So just before we get into how things are changing, just what were your favorite horror movies that you have seen this year?
MCKENDRY: I love to leave the theater saying I have never seen anything like that. If I'm still processing it 12 hours later, that was a good movie in my mind.
CHANG: Yeah.
MCKENDRY: So "The Substance" is definitely up there. It's about aerobics instructor who is getting really concerned about her career 'cause she's aging. And she is presented with this drug that will supposedly allow her to live as a younger person so she can continue with her career.
CHANG: That's amazing. Who wouldn't want that (laughter)?
MCKENDRY: Sounds great - see the movie. Doesn't turn out that way.
CHANG: Ah.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE SUBSTANCE")
DEMI MOORE: (As Elisabeth) There's been a slight misuse of the substance.
MCKENDRY: It's hypergory. It's body horror. It's weird. It's putting major actresses into kind of these weird, uncomfortable positions. But seeing it with a crowd in a theater, everyone was howling.
CHANG: By that, you mean laughing, not, like, howling like werewolves?
MCKENDRY: I do kind of mean howling like werewolves.
CHANG: What?
MCKENDRY: We were in shock. Like, oh...
CHANG: OK.
MCKENDRY: ...My gosh.
CHANG: (Laughter).
MCKENDRY: I can't believe what I'm watching. Like, just gasps - and then, I also have to give a really big shoutout to "Abigail," which I loved. This was a bigger film about a ballerina vampire.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ABIGAIL")
MELISSA BARRERA: (As Joey) OK. How do we kill a vampire?
KATHRYN NEWTON: (As Sammy) What are we talking about? Like, an Anne Rice or a "True Blood," you know, "Twilight"?
CHANG: (Laughter).
MCKENDRY: Just kind of this, like, oddball idea out of left field - but it worked.
CHANG: Every time that we have you on the show, Rebekah, you tell us about some unifying aspect that defined each year. What is this year's biggest horror trend? Like, any themes that you saw repeat?
MCKENDRY: Oh, yeah.
CHANG: Yeah?
MCKENDRY: So the themes - I have seen a lot of franchises, IPs, reboots, sequels. The second trend that I'm seeing is this concept of surreal and absurdist, that not everything in the movie has to be explained, nor does it have to make sense. And I love it because it lets you just kind of exist in the horror, and you leave with questions. The last trend that I'm really seeing...
CHANG: Yeah?
MCKENDRY: ...Is hyperviolence.
CHANG: Oh.
MCKENDRY: And I am so excited to see this come back. I - this is something that...
CHANG: (Laughter).
MCKENDRY: ...I know. Sounds wild.
CHANG: A quote we usually don't hear guests on NPR say. But go on, Rebekah McKendry (laughter).
MCKENDRY: So I think that the reason behind this is always that for certain people, it's cathartic. I can go into a film, like "The Substance," that is hyper, hypergory, and somehow, I can walk out of that and say, I feel better.
CHANG: (Laughter) You know, when you were first saying that you were so excited to see gore come back, my first thought is, man, you are a sicko, Rebekah. But now that you're explaining it, you're actually quite mentally healthy. You're dealing...
MCKENDRY: Thank you.
CHANG: ...With it through horror.
MCKENDRY: I think so.
CHANG: (Laughter).
MCKENDRY: I always think of it - I use the phrase, taste death, live life...
CHANG: (Laughter).
MCKENDRY: ...Because I think that, you know, we each kind of have the thing that we do to kind of make ourselves feel how alive we are, whether you are skydiving or getting a tattoo or riding roller coasters. And for a lot of us, we find that kind of refreshing extreme - like, oh, my gosh, OK, I feel more alive - from watching extreme horror films. And at the end of the day, I consider it to be incredibly healthy because I walk out of them going, OK, you know what? I was feeling bad. Now I feel great. I'm going to go get a cup of coffee and thank myself for being alive, so yeah.
CHANG: That is Rebekah McKendry, horror director and film critic. Thank you so much once again for being here, and happy Halloween, Rebekah.
MCKENDRY: Happy Halloween. Thank you so much for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF DANNY ELFMAN'S "END TITLES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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