Home Invasions, Dinner Parties and Slashers abound in the first installment of the Shut-In Film Fest, hosted by Logan Ann Taylor
Week one of Split Tooth’s Shut-In miniature film festival experiment explores being trapped and isolated in dangerous single-location situations. Things are dark across the globe and a huge proportion of the population is now sheltered in place at home. This week’s films explore scarier forms of isolation — situations that are (hopefully) more dire than our current state. Ideally they’ll give you a short break from reality, even if it’s just to be trapped somewhere new with a non-COVID villain.
Day One: Isolation with a disability
Wait Until Dark (1967) or Hush (2016)
Early on in this madness, we may still be stable enough to handle the suspense of a home invasion thriller. There are plenty of great options, but these films creatively present disabled protagonists who are presumed to be helpless against their foes. Wait Until Dark is the choice I recommend viewing if you can find it. Audrey Hepburn masterfully plays a blind woman who enters a complex cat-and-mouse game in her home with a mysterious man, played dynamically by Alan Arkin. If you can’t get your hands on this classic, give Hush (on Netflix) a shot. Quite similar in basic premise, Hush features a deaf female protagonist, but goes in new twisted directions narratively. If you’re feeling really energetic, they make for a great double feature as well, allowing for an interesting study on how senses are expressed and interpreted cinematically.
Wait Until Dark is available to rent on Amazon Prime and iTunes
Hush is available to stream on Netflix
Day Two: Isolation with mysterious acquaintances
Clue (1985) or The Invitation (2016)
Ah, the dinner party: a classic narrative device that easily creates tension and unease among characters who may or may not be strangers to each other. There are again hundreds of choices (including the recent favorites Ready or Not and You’re Next), but I tried to lighten things up with the primary option. Clue, the classic high energy mystery-comedy in which the host of a dinner party of wealthy strangers is suddenly found dead, holds up perfectly, largely thanks to inimitable Tim Curry. It’s definitely my top recommendation if you need to get a smile plastered on your face for a couple hours. If you’re feeling broody, The Invitation makes for quite a contrast. Karyn Kusama’s thriller is a darkly ominous, psychologically trying, and deeply claustrophobic film.
Clue is available to stream for free on Crackle
The Invitation is available on Netflix
Day Three: Isolation by criminals — when you bring it on yourself
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong (2017) or Don’t Breathe (2016)
Sometimes isolation can function as a deserved punishment. These films that spin home invasion thrillers on their head with refreshing twists. In A Bad Idea Gone Wrong, a group of burglars break into a home only to become trapped inside by the alarm system. What follows is a madcap slapstick set-up with a rising-star cast and plenty of memorable surprises. Don’t Breathe starts with a similar twist, but goes in a darker direction when the robbers learn they’re in the home of a skilled military man with muscles, guns, and a very mean dog. Pick your preferred level of extremity, but in either case, enjoy the moral complexities of picking whose side you’re on.
A Bad Idea Gone Wrong is available to rent on Amazon Prime or Vudu
Don’t Breathe is available to rent on Prime and Vudu
Day Four: Isolation as teenage fantasy-cum-nightmare:
Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987) or Halloween (1978)
There’s no shortage of films in which homebound teenage activities are interrupted by a serial killer, but these two are classics for a reason. Slumber Party Massacre 2 plays with all the cliches of teenage girl slumber parties, highlighting and then subverting the male gaze repeatedly in what is an oft-ignored but genuinely clever slasher flick. It also doesn’t matter at all if you’ve seen the first installment, which I also admire but plays a bit straighter and more sincere. Halloween functions like previously mentioned home invasion films in many ways, but is bolstered by its relatable brand of teenage hijinks and resulting catastrophes. Sex-crazed teenagers and a virginal final girl babysitter make this a teenage nightmare set in a idyllic suburban world.
Slumber Party Massacre 2 is available on Tubi or Shudder
Halloween is available on Shudder
Day Five: Isolation as wish fulfillment gone awry
Home Alone (1990)
It’s essential to end a festival with a high-energy palette cleanser – something easy and mood-boosting to kick off your weekend. What is more breezy and clever and delightful than Home Alone? I can’t imagine I need to explain this comedy classic film to you, but it offers plenty of inspiration for creative uses of your home and free time. I, for one, am also ordering lots of pizza, dancing recklessly, and occasionally creating Rube-Goldbergesque booby traps for my pets. Just kidding. Don’t recreate the traps from the movie, which have been scientifically proven to result in the burglars’ death in reality. I repeat. Do not actually try this at home, but do try to find the moments of levity in it all.
Home Alone is available to rent on Amazon Prime or Google Play
The Shut-In Film Fest continues with Pt 2: Isolation as a way of life: Gilded Cages and Sanitary Spaces.
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