Welcome to another daily horror digest from Creepy Catalog. I’m excited about today’s movie of the day, so let’s get right to it!
Movie of the Day
The Shrouds one of the movies released on streaming yesterday, and that’s what I chose to watch. I’m a pretty big fan of David Cronenberg, but I didn’t love his previous movie, Crimes of the Future, as much as I wanted to. I’m happy to say that I thoroughly enjoyed his latest though!
The Shrouds stars Vincent Cassel as Karsh, a man whose wife Becca (Diane Kruger) passed away four years before the movie begins. Karsh’s reaction to his wife being buried was that he wanted to be buried with her. That led him to develop technology, a shroud, that allows people to view a person’s body while in the grave, in real time and in interactive 3D. The graveyard where Karsh’s shrouds are used is vandalized, with Becca’s grave being one of the plots destroyed. Karsh doesn’t want the police involved, and his own investigation into who targeted the graves sends him down a rabbit hole of conspiracies.
So, interestingly, The Shrouds is a conspiracy movie. That’s not at all what I expected. There’s a very small amount of body horror involved in the story, but the plot revolves around the conspiracy Karsh is trying to unravel. At least, that’s what the movie is on its surface.
The Shrouds is really about grief. The movie is actually one long metaphor about the effects of grief, but that might not be entirely clear until the final scene. That’s exactly why I love this movie so much, because the metaphor isn’t shoved in your face the whole time. I wrote about The Twin in yesterday’s digest, and that’s a movie where the metaphor is so obvious and simple that it takes over the plot. I find that sort of thing boring. The Shrouds is the complete opposite. Its plot is somewhat complex, logistically and emotionally, and it draws out feelings that you only realize later are actually part of the overall meaning behind the film.
So what is The Shrouds trying to convey? It’s about one man’s attempts at dealing with his pain, only to find that indulging his impulses leads to further complications and torment. In the end the plot doesn’t really matter very much, but that’s part of the point. I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that it is abrupt. It’s also haunting, and it invites you to think about what everything you’ve just watched actually means. Does it mean anything? Is there an answer to the questions raised? Is it something that can be solved with logic and technology? What really matters when someone is grieving?
Not everyone will enjoy The Shrouds. Looking at various sites, audience ratings are all over the place. Personally, I give it at least four out of five stars. Maybe more. If you want to watch for yourself, The Shrouds is currently streaming as a digital rental on platforms including Prime Video.
Related Movie Recommendation
Today I’m making a recommendation based on the theme of grief, handled in an interesting and layered way. I recommend you check out The Wild which was released earlier this year. The movie is about a trio of friends who go on a camping trip to reconnect after the death of their mutual friend Bea. Tensions rise, and it becomes clear that there are secrets among them regarding Bea and her death. The Wild is an excellent thriller built on strong character-driven storytelling, and it ranks pretty highly in my best/worst list for the year so far. You can rent The Wild on Prime Video.
Birthdays
Susan Cabot was born on July 9th, 1927. She became part of horror history when she starred in Roger Corman’s The Wasp Woman in 1959. She played Janice Starlin, the owner of a cosmetics company whose experimental anti-aging serum turns her into a wasp-like monster.
Also born today, in 1982, is Maggie Ma. She played Perry in Final Destination 3. Her character was the one killed by a flying flag pole.
Also celebrating birthdays today are Drew Hancock (1979), the writer and director of Companion, and Ruairi O’Connor (1991) who played Arne in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It.
Events on This Day
On July 9th, 2019, The Beach House was released on Shudder. The film is a pretty good story about an infection that spreads through a beach town, causing some decent body horror along the way.
Released on this day in 2021 is Fear Street Part Two – 1978. This middle part of the original Fear Street trilogy is a summer camp slasher with supernatural elements throughout. This one tends to be the highest rated of the film franchise.
Also released on July 9th, in Mexico in 1965, is Blue Demon: El Demonio Azul. This luchador film features Mexican wrestler Blue Demon fighting a werewolf.
In the News
Freddie Prinze Jr. told People that the new I Know What You Did Last Summer contains the best scenes he and Jennifer Love Hewitt have done together out of all three I Know movies they’ve done together. We shall see how true that is when the movie is released next week.
Deadline reports that Hayat Kamille has joined the cast of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. Hayat Kamille is best known for her role as Mariam in Vikings: Valhalla.
Hopefully the next new movie I watch is as good as today’s movie of the day. There were some good ones released on streaming yesterday, so, finger crossed!
