In this day and age, it’s easy to fall victim to choice paralysis when it comes to entertainment. Between movie theaters, physical media, streaming services, and digital rentals, we all perpetually have thousands upon thousands of movies and TV shows we could be watching at the tip of our fingers, and that volume can render the selection process difficult. Fortunately, Stephen King is regularly happy to provide specific recommendations that help fans discover new and terrific works, and he delivered two suggestions this past week that will provide your evenings/weekend with some terrific cinematic tension and scares.
This week’s edition of The King Beat not only centers on two new titles that Stephen King has recommended for consumption – the new horror movie Infested and the Netflix limited series Baby Reindeer – but also highlights the anniversary of one of the more underrated King adaptations: “The Raft” segment in Creepshow 2. Without further ado, let’s dig in!
Stephen King Is A Big Fan Of The Spider-Centric French Horror Film Infested, Which Is Now Streaming On Shudder
Here’s a fact about myself: I am extremely terrified of spiders. I can’t fully explain the root of my fear, but there is nothing in this world that freaks me out more than the idea of having eight fuzzy legs quickly crawling across my skin (and yes, I am squirming and shuddering as I write this). Because of this phobia, I’m naturally very sensitive when it comes to arachno-centric horror – but I am also someone who loves being scared by movies, so I am also always intrigued by them. Hence, I find myself quite curious about Stephen King’s latest film recommendation.
If you have already watched Late Night With The Devil based on Stephen King's recommendation, the next new horror film that you should add to your watchlist is writer/director Sébastien Vaniček’s Infested. The movie did a festival run last fall, with a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, and it was released in Europe at the end of last year, but it’s now available to stream with a Shudder subscription following a limited theatrical release last month, and one of the all-time great masters of the genre is suggesting that you check it out. He posted about the release on Twitter this week, writing,
INFESTED (Shudder): Spiders, some as big as puppies, overrun a French apartment building. Scary, gross, well made. (French, with English subtitles)
In the film, Théo Christine plays Kaleb, a lonely young man living in a rundown apartment building who has a particular fascination for exotic animals and insects. When he finds a strange and freaky spider, he is excited to add it to his collection, but it manages to escape the shoebox in which he is temporarily storing it, and the thing ends up unleashing terror and death via extremely fast reproduction and terribly deadly venom. Finnegan Oldfield, Jérôme Niel, Sofia Lesaffre, and Lisa Nyarko also star in the film, which is co-written by Sébastien Vanicek and Florent Bernard.
If you can handle it, you can watch the trailer for Infested via Shudder below:
Personally, I only made it to about a minute and 10 seconds into that trailer before I had to hit the pause button and click away (that shot of the spiders coming out of the drain seriously got me), but I also now know how I’ll be spending one of my evenings this coming weekend. I’m going to surely experience nightmares in the aftermath as well as phantom sensations that there are creepy crawlies walking all over me… but I will also relish the fact that such terror and trauma can be generated by simply watching images flashing on a screen. That’s the magic of the horror genre for me, and I’m sure that many of you can relate.
It’s not only Stephen King who is loving Infested, as the movie has earned nearly universal positive responses from critics. So if you’re looking for a nice way to freak yourself out with a nice scary movie in the coming days, get yourself a Shudder subscription and make good use of it.
Following His Two Word Twitter Reaction, Stephen King Has Written An Article About Baby Reindeer
Toward the end of last week, Stephen King discovered the shocking limited series Baby Reindeer on Netflix, and when he took to Twitter to publish a reaction, he apparently could only manage two words: “Holy shit.” Given the shocking nature of the show, created by and starring Richard Gann, it’s understandable that King’s reaction would be so brief – but since then, he has elaborated on his thoughts. Specifically, he has written an article for The London Times about the show, drawing parallels between it and Misery, his most famous story about a deranged stalker.
Misery is one of the most beloved titles in the Stephen King canon (a legacy admittedly aided by the brilliant 1990 adaptation from director Rob Reiner), but the author has expressed some extreme humility comparing it to Baby Reindeer. In the opening paragraph of his piece for the Times, he explains that a friend recommended the show to him by saying that it makes the story of Annie Wilkes “look like a kids’ cartoon,” and he doesn’t dismiss the unflattering comparison. In fact, he expresses gratitude that he had the idea for Misery so many years ago because he might otherwise be accused of plagiarism. He writes,
So, like 13.3 million other Netflix subscribers, I tried it and found myself sucked in, unable to look away. My first thought was to thank God my novel came first, or people would assume I’d stolen it from Richard Gadd, who wrote and produced the seven-episode series and also stars in it.
Inspired by Gadd’s own personal experiences, Baby Reindeer centers on Donny Dunn, an aspiring comedian and writer working as a bartender who finds his life dangerously intertwined with a woman named Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning). When Martha enters his pub one day looking terrifically sad and claiming to be unable to afford a drink, Donny feels an instant sympathy for her and buys her a cup of tea. This turns out to be a grave mistake, as Martha almost instantly becomes infatuated with him, and infatuation quickly becomes a case of full-on stalking. When things start getting out of hand, Donny makes the decision to go to the police – but doing so sees him forced to confront his own disturbing past and personal trauma.
In his spoiler-rich piece for The Times, Stephen King expresses that each of the 30 minute episodes of Baby Reindeer are akin to “short, swift stabs administered by a very sharp knife,” and he particularly marvels at how efficiently the show tells the audience everything we need to know about the main characters within their introductions. In the span of just a couple minutes, Gann richly illustrates the core of these people. King writes,
They are both psychologically needy, but it’s Martha who is mentally unstable and manipulative. Yet Donny — in spite of googly, hopeful eyes that continually say don’t hurt me — has the unusual and rather heroic ability to see into himself.
Without getting too deep into spoilers, Donny Dunn’s deep introspection comes to a head in Baby Reindeer’s powerful penultimate episode, and Stephen King describes it as one of the best things he’s ever seen in television or film. In the show, Donny is a victim who ends up convincing himself that his victimization is warranted, and King is amazed by not only the extreme empathy that the show is able to conjure for its protagonist, but for its antagonist as well.
Curious Constant Readers can check out Stephen King’s article – headlined “Stephen King on Baby Reindeer: ‘One of the best things I’ve ever seen’” – with a subscription to The Times, and Baby Reindeer is available to stream with a Netflix account.
As Creepshow 2 Turns 37, Let’s Talk About How Scary “The Raft” Is
To be perfectly blunt, Creepshow 2 is nowhere near as good as the original Creepshow. The fact that there are only three segments after the original anthology’s five is a major downgrade, and while there are some cool special effects featured in “Old Chief Wood'nhead” and “The Hitch-hiker” (not to mention a fun Stephen King cameo in the latter), they’re stories not as interesting as the various horrors in “Father’s Day,” “The Lonesome Death Of Jordy Verrill” and “The Crate.” What ultimately makes the sequel worthwhile, however, is the shocking nightmare that is the middle chapter in the film – “The Raft” – and it’s worth celebrating in light of Creepshow 2’s 37th anniversary this week.
Directed by Michael Gornick and scripted by George A. Romero, Creepshow 2 was first released in theaters on May 1, 1987, and its one segment based on a pre-existing Stephen King story is the principal reason horror fans should seek it out. “The Raft” is also a pretty great segment to watch at the start of summer, as it’s a terrifying tale that centers on an activity that many will enjoy in the hot weather months that are on the way (though it should be noted that the story technically takes place in the fall).
In the Creepshow 2 story, college students Deke (Paul Satterfield), Laverne (Jeremy Green), Randy (Daniel Beer), and Rachel (Page Hannah) decide to head off for an excursion to a remote lake where they know a wooden raft is anchored. While they have a nice time swimming and relaxing, the whole thing turns into an unmitigated nightmare when they are set upon by a mysterious creature that looks like a pool of black goo that floats in the water. It turns out that this goo is not only sentient but also hungry, and it’s able to melt flesh and bone with simple contact. It’s horrifying, and even though the film had a very small budget, the effects are amazing.
Creepshow 2 is presently available to stream with an Amazon Prime Video subscription, but it’s also available for digital rental and on Blu-ray thanks to Arrow Video.
Recommendation Of The Week: “The Raft”
If you’re already watching Creepshow 2 to celebrate the film’s 37th anniversary this week, why not also go ahead and read the short story on which its best segment is based? Whether you check it out before or after you watch the adaptation, it’s a true horror treat. It was first published in November 1982 when it was included with purchase in an issue of the adult magazine Gallery, but it can most easily be found featured in the 1985 collection Skeleton Crew.
That wraps up this week’s edition of The King Beat, but be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Thursday to find my latest roundup of the big news out of the world of Stephen King.
