10 Double Movie Features From Hell

In case you've denied the reality outside, there's currently a pandemic underway. Though theatres are slowly rolling out with surefire hits like the long-awaited road rage thriller Unhinged, most intelligent people have noted that it's an extremely. stupid. thing. to. do.

Nevertheless, Hollywood has persevered, in some cases with compassion and cleverness. Others, like Christopher Nolan, are less sentimental about their audiences' well-being. The rest of us have found ways to enjoy film differently, or even falling back on kitsch to get us through.

The recent resurgence of Drive-In theatres might have come just a little too late to ultimately save them, but they're a decent stopgap. If we're to fully embrace kitsch, however, we must also return to the days of double features and newsreels, intermissions and cartoons.

Drive-In theatres are still a bit of a relic, from the very days we're trying to move beyond politically, but they're worth salvaging. If nothing else, regular double features will justify the price of admission.

But be wary, for there were far too many double features that didn't pair together well, or wouldn't if you set up a home theatre during the crisis. For those hopefully small home gatherings, there's a lot to consider when pairing two films; genre, atmosphere, talent, but some films, like wine and food, just leave a bad taste when combined.

The found-footage horror film has been around much longer than people care, often mistakenly crediting The Blair Witch Project with its inception, rather than popularity. While Cannibal Holocaust claims to be the first, earlier works at least explored some elements that would wind up as hallmarks of the genre.

It's certainly the first film to explore the potential gore that the genre offers, laying the viscera on so realistically the director was brought up on murder charges until he produced the actors alive. But Ruggero Deodato's inarguably hard-to-watch film had a purpose, pointing a harsh, wagging finger at the exploitative Mondo documentaries that were coming out of his Native Italy, while simultaneously criticising Western onscreen violence.

The film follows an investigation into the disappearance of a brash, disrespectful American documentary film crew, their brutal slaying by natives and the debate about whether to air the footage. As gory as you've heard the film is, it's also didactic, full of lectures in between all the torture. That the film is so unfortunately gruesome overshadows whatever statement it's trying to make.

Follow that with Megan is Missing, Michael Goi's equally upsetting found footage film. Missing follows a young girl's disappearance after being abducted by an online predator.

Like Holocaust, you're left to wonder just why it was necessary to see everything in grotesque detail. Worse, it's low budget bleeds through, to the point where you can hear Goi say, "Action". If there are pioneers in the sub-genre, this isn't the direction they foresaw.