Never mind the arguments about money and having kids the single most divisive issue in a relationship is what films to watch on Netflix. If she can make you sit through Girl Interrupted (youll like it its about a bunch of hot chicks, and theyre all mental!), then the least she can do is sit still during The Thing From Another World. Christian Nybys 1951 movie hasnt aged well, and it had its thunder stolen by John Carpenters awesome 1982 remake, but it has never looked more dated than when viewed with a petulant girlfriend, who sniggers every time the man-in-a-suit monster puts in an appearance. Worst of all is the scene where the scientists deduce that the creature is an intelligent carrot, which prompts the quip, What do they do, boil it to death? That remark brought to mind something Alfred Hitchcock said during a publicity tour: It has been rumoured that Psycho is so terrifying that it will scare someone speechless. Some of my men hopefully sent their wives to a screening. You could get away with such casual sexism in 1960, when women wore long skirts and were (apparently) there to be seen but not heard, but not in 2015, although it does raise an interesting question what movies will stun your better half into silence? Not just horror films, but movies so graphic, so gruesome and so pull-out-the-stops weird that they could stop traffic in Times Square. Movies that respected no boundaries, took no prisoners, yet were also fun in their own perverse way. Movies like the following, in fact.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
