The Stepford Wives (1975) - Mirco-Review

I think that there is something extremely unsettling and truly disturbing about the idea of a secret club of men who that want to replace you with a robot clone, all taking place in a supposed suburban haven. The Stepford Wives was based on a novel of the same name written by Ira Levin (who also wrote Rosemary's Baby.) 

The film follows a family who decide to move from Manhattan to Stepford, a town where everyone is living the American Dream. Joanne, the mother of the family, starts to think that the housewives of Stepford are too perfect. Joanne and her friend start to get even more suspicious of the members of the men's club. Joanne, now convinced the women of Stepford aren't human, has to get out of Stepford before they change her as well, but will she be able to get away?

A few years back I watched Nicole Kidmam's remake and all I can remember is how stupid the whole movie was. They took this disturbing story and made it a crappy low-brow comedy. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth, until I saw that Stephen King added the original film to his list of horrors that contributed to the genre, after which I immediately wanted to see it...

Needless to say, I was not let down. From the family's arrival in Stepford I was captivated! The story was great, which is not surprising since Rosemary's Baby is considered to be one of the best horror films ever made. Many of the same themes explored in Rosemary's Baby are also present in Stepford. One of the biggest themes it has in common is the protagonist's feeling that everyone around her is out to get her, even her husband. The film's continuous satirical commentary on the absurdity of gender roles is also very entertaining.

Kathrine Ross, who plays Joanna, is one of my favorite parts of this movie (and the fact that she reminded me a lot of a young Catherine Deneuve makes it even better!) The rest of the supporting cast also did wonderful jobs. The kids were as bad as kid actors usually are but at least they got near to no screen time.

Left: Kathrine Ross. Right: Cathrine Deneuve

For most of the film I found the characters believable and interesting but close to the end of the film, Joanne's actions seemed extremely stupid and unbelievable. How she reacted resembled Melanie Daniels in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, who towards the end of the film seemed to lose the ability to successfully open a door... 

The Stepford Wives is truly a great psychological horror film. With a great story, great characters and great direction this is a definite see for any film lover!

Rating: 8/10

Why do we love Horror so much? - The Insomniac's Cinema

Why do we love horrors so much?
The Insomniac's Cinema

Horror is a very unique movie genre, it's one of those genres that people either love or hate. Usually the people who hate it say that they cant handle being scared or that the violence and gore is just too much for them, and then there's us, the people who cant get enough of those exact things! Why is this, why do we enjoy and love horrors so very much while others can't stand them at all?

Over the past few years I've heard several different theories explaining our fascination with horror movies. Some people argue that our love of horrors comes from the resurfacing of our most primal urges. That when we watch these types of movies we satisfy an aggressive and primal spirit that lives deep within us. The same affect can be used to explain the morbid fascination you might experience when seeing a car crash on a highway, how you know that there's a chance that if you look you will see something upsetting on the road but you can't help but stare as long as possible until your too far away to make anything out.


Another explanation suggests that while we watch horrors we get an adrenaline rush similar to what you would experience when you are actually in danger. This is the same reason people give for taking part in extreme sports or riding roller coasters. I think this a very good argument, but the thing is I've watched so many horror movies, that few scare me at all anymore while that same movie would make somebody (who isn't fond of horrors) go completely hysterical...


Something else that makes me wonder a lot about horror movies and their effect on us is that they almost always get such a polarized reaction... People either LOVE them or HATE them. Some would say it's because some people are just tougher and don't get scared so easily, I don't agree with this...

I think that one of the many reasons for our fascination and love for horrors and why they can  have such a polarizing effect can be linked to early exposure...

My father is really not a huge horror fan today but when he was younger he used to  be a complete Stephen King and all around Horror fiction lover! In our loft he stored all his horror books and when I was very young I went up there and looked at their interesting covers. Most of them didn't bother me that much except for one, a book called Headhunter by Michael Slade.

The exact same cover
 that is still gathering
Dust in our loft...

I have no idea why but this one book scared me so much but at the same time kept drawing me back to it, for years afterwards whenever I went up there I looked at that book and every time it creeped. me. out! See, my theorie is that, that book planted the seed in my head that lead to me being such  a huge horror fan,  it was jut scary enough to frighten and entice me but not that scary that it completely scared me away, thus I formed this fascination with this genre as a whole. Usually when I speak with the horror haters they tell me that they experienced something horror related when they were younger and that it scared them so much they can't stand horror at all, even today...


Thank you for reading and please remember that this is just someone who doesn't really know anything about anything's theorie, but I would love to hear all of your own opinions so please share them in the comments below!

-The Insomniac's Cinema