by Justin Query

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For some, the spooky season is a month-long endeavor, captured only within those October days & nights in which candy corn and frightening films will linger. But — for others — the spirit of Halloween is an unending thing:

Monstrous movie posters adorn the walls, year-long. Plastic Jack O’Lanterns flicker from dawn until dusk. And every movie night is the perfect night for a murder.

It’s Fate.

This week, Front Center Seat examines some pictures that were always leading to one place: That place where one understands that it’s only a movie …

… And that place where the final credits promised that they would never let go.

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10.21 … The Sixth Sense (1999)

Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan’s stellar ghost story from Buena Vista Pictures caught audiences entirely off guard decades ago with its haunting narrative of a seemingly broken counselor (Bruce Willis) trying to advise a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) apparently plagued with the ability to see ghosts. No spoilers here and little more to write except that the color red is important throughout the film.
Available on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Max.

10.22 … The Shape of Water (2017)

Director Guillermo del Toro’s cross-species love story from Fox Searchlight Pictures is so much more about the individuals who tell the tale than the story of a monster and a human woman falling in love. From the mute cleaning lady (Sally Hawkins) trying to find her voice to the upstairs neighbor (Richard Jenkins) trying to reinvent himself to the facility director (Michael Shannon) slowly turning into a metaphorical monster, this modern fable proves that the most human creaures can be the most beautiful or deadliest of all.
Available for purchase on multiple streaming services.

10.23 … A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014)

This genre-bending B&W film is part-horror / part-Western, a picture that – like its protagonist – refuses to be penned into a particular cage. Writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour sketches out in violent detail the story of a skateboarding vampire (Sheila Vand) who punishes men who disrespect women in Iran, and the SpectreVision film, then, is not only a reflection of Iranian culture but also a portrait of contemporary feminism cinema.
Available on Amazon Prime.

10.24 … 28 Days Later (2002)

Director Danny Boyle’s Fox Searchlight neo-zombie cult classic (scripted by Civil War scribe Alex Garland) remains one of the most glaring indictments against mankind since Romero’s 1968 zombie classic NOTLD. When a young man (Cillian Murphy) awakens from a coma in the wake of an apocalypse of rage-filled zombies, it’s the so-called “normal” people who appear to be more monstrous than the creatures that threaten our very lives.
Unavailable on most streaming services.

10.25 … The Strangers (2008)

“Because you were here,” a trio of masked assailants responds when they’re asked in Bryan Bertino’s 90-minute act of home invasion why they selected a particular, helpless couple (Scott Speedman & Liv Tyler) as targets. In the Rogue Pictures film, there seems to be no other motive than to terrorize, inviting the Strangers to pound on walls, knock on doors, and noisily promise that they will soon be inside your home — as well as promise that you won’t be leaving it alive.

Available on Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Max.

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This week’s Fate Midnight Feature …

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Co-written by director Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, this mind-blowing meta horror film follows five friends to a rather stereotypical cabin in the woods where their rather stereotypical personalities – a virgin, a stoner, an athlete, etc. – appear to perfectly position them in a stereotypical horror movie that may very well mean the end of the stereotypical world as we know it.
Available on Peacock.

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Next week’s theme: Classic Terrors
A horror fan discovers a frightening neighbor has moved in next door; a loser is charged with saving his family & friends from a zombie apocalypse; a masked killer returns to a small town in order to cut a swath of violence; and more …

… including a final Halloween night feature guaranteed to enter your seasonal rotation of spirited cinema!