Shai Hulud’s Matt Fox and Matt Fletcher Talk Horror Movies

Last week we posted a huge list featuring hard rock and metal musicians talking about their favorite horror films. Even though they missed the deadline to get their picks in, Shai Hulud's Matt Fox (guitars) and Matt Fletcher (bass) sent in such detailed responses that Noisecreep had to give them their own post. We're not surprised they were late sending these in since the metallic hardcore veterans have been out touring throughout the globe these past few months. So without further delay, here are Fox and Fletcher's response to the question, "What is your favorite horror movie and why?"

Matt Fox:

"Admittedly, I am not what would be considered a horror fanatic. At risk of losing metal cred, horror films scare me, sissy that I am. The ones I do appreciate are more dark and ominous than scary, and tend to focus on depth of characters and plot rather than torture or indiscriminate butchery and gore. Some great examples of horror films that appeal to me are 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Exorcist' (1973), 'Poltergeist' (1982), 'The Omen' (1976), 'Halloween' (1978), 'The Thing' (1982), 'Alien' (1979), 'Night of the Living Dead' (1968), 'Phantasm' (1979), 'An American Werewolf in London' (1981), any of the original classic Universal Monsters movies. The movie I have often referred to as my favorite of the genre would be Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' (1963).

"To a modern horror fan, 'The Birds' is probably as scary as a Fruit Roll-Up, but there was a time where it instilled in people the fear of merely stepping outdoors the way 'Jaws' (1975) kept most of us out of the ocean for a good decade or two. Give the overall concept of 'The Birds' a shred of thought and you'll feel the terror, whether you suffer from Ornithophobia or not.

"But it's the dramatic and psychological aspects of the film that fascinate me most of all, Hitchcock's mastery of optimizing suspense and pacing gelling everything together impeccably. The exposition is such thrilling, edge-of-your-seat storytelling the movie's action scenes, as climactic as they are, leave me craving for more of the plot to unravel, where the true horror lies. Without the compelling drama 'The Birds' could easily be demoted to an hour and twenty minute schlock and gore fest the depth of, say, 'Return to Sleepaway Camp' (2008). I thank Alfred for knowing better."

Matt Fletcher:

"Yes, I'm the guy that violently opposes whatever remake, redux, revamp, reboot, rehash you try to convince me is worth watching. You're wrong. Therefore, no matter how much tentacle-d savagery, and gelatinous monstrosity is squirted into 'The Thing' (not a remake, supposedly, though the previews touch on all the same plot points of the earlier film), I'm sure John Carpenter's 'The Thing' will still be superior.

"Why? Because a guy's stomach grows teeth and bites another guy's arms off, because a head grows spider legs and critters around, and a dog splits apart morphing into a beast with tongues, tendrils and eyes, and squirts slime and grows flowers (right before they flamethrower it back to space hell). You can thank make-up and effects wizard Rob Bottin for such magical nastiness. Let's not forget the petri dish! But it's not just monsters and gore. There are awesome characters and one-liners. Kurt Russell is surrounded by great actors such as Wilford Brimley, and their dialog is realistic even when humorous, "You gotta be f---ing kidding".

"And yes, I know that Carpenter's version is actually a remake of Howard Hawks' '50s sci-fi film 'The Thing From Another World,' but where it differs besides bringing in a more horror element, like in 'Alien,' is that he stuck more closely to John W. Campbell Jr's original short story titled 'Who Goes There?' It's essentially another film with a completely different approach, one that packs enough stomach-ripping punch to keep the most die-hard horror, science fiction, and suspense fans tied to their f---ing couch."

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