Synopsis:
In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.
The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.
The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions — demons of the past be damned.
But at what cost?
Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.
Review:
First of all, a massive thank you to Titan Books for my Arc of this novel!
You can never accuse Paul Tremblay of playing it safe. Never one to rest on his laurels, Tremblay novels are renowned for tinkering with format and perspective, carving open new avenues towards readers’ hearts. ‘Horror Movie’ is no different, flicking between the past, present and the original screenplay of a horror film’s creation with fluidity and purpose. It seems that no matter what this man tries he has the ambition and nuance to pull it off, and ‘Horror Movie’ is Tremblay’s jewel in the crown, the novel that propels him from being one of the most successful contemporary horror authors and into the stratosphere of the all-time greats. ‘Horror Movie’ brushes against decades of horror with a deft touch, culminating in a timeless classic.
The story follows our main character, unnamed other than his screen name of the ‘Thin Kid’, across three plains of existence: the original attempted 1993 filming of a low-budget horror film, the modern-day reboot, and the screenplay narrative of the film. All of this is compiled in an audiobook narrated by our main character. If that sounds like a lot, just be impressed that Paul Tremblay pulls it off with exceptionally more clarity than how I can describe it.
Dread is at the forefront of our minds from the very beginning of this story. The word ‘cursed’ is bandied around to describe the original shooting of ‘Horror Movie’, and in typical Tremblay fashion it is left to us to gradually determine the level of truth in that theory. What is evident is that something went wrong in the original shooting of the film, very, very wrong, and Tremblay does a great job at giving credence to our ever increasing concerns.
The story masterfully toys with identity to leave us in constant unease. It is no mistake that we only know our main character as the ‘Thin Kid’, the character he plays. On several occasions it is suggested that our main character does not have the greatest self-esteem, someone easily controlled and lacking a core sense of self. Even him taking the acting role feels indicative of someone transforming into someone they are not, someone who is valuing pleasing others over his own needs and wants. Fiction and reality blur and intertwine throughout the story, and considering what we learn of the character known as the ‘Thin Kid’ as the screenplay progresses, this becomes very unsettling indeed.
I have little to no knowledge about screenplays and how they are supposed to look, but the screenplay aspect of ‘Horror Movie’ was undoubtedly my favourite of the novel. Tremblay has shown before in ‘A Head Full of Ghosts’ that he has great knowledge of how directors can manipulate film shots to imply and produce specific results, and he showcases this knowledge once again in ‘Horror Movie’. Scenes are written with a unique clarity that managed to create truly vivid images in my head for how the film shots would really look, and I’m no film buff. We often read about bringing words from the page to life, but Tremblay expertly achieves the inverse in this novel.
‘Horror Movie’ has the impossible task of creating satisfying endings for three separate yet diverging stories and yet they all merge together into a truly devastating conclusion. Tremblay’s latest experiment produces a unique set of results that cannot be replicated. A diamond of a story, polished and sublime. ‘Horror Movie’ will shine bright for years and years to come, a beacon of light in the darkness that all of us horror fans enjoy inhabiting from time to time. This one is for the horror lovers.
We at FearForAll LOVE this book. Be sure to check out Ed and George’s own fantastic and unique reviews!
I love your great blog