Today is Blog Action Day ‘08, which I’ve known about for a while, and kind of
figured I ought to write something for, but didn’t really know what.
After having a look around on the Blog Action Day
site, and reading their “keep it on topic” recommendation, I had a burst of
inspiration: I’d put together a list of the top 10 poverty related horror
films!
Much head scratching went on to actually find a number of films to include in
this list, but thanks to the combined efforts of Mine Was
Taller and The Devil’s
Manor we’ve found enough. I think we’ve done
pretty well, and I hope you enjoy the list. If we’ve missed any, please tell
us in the comments.
One last thing, please don’t think we’re being flippant by posting this list;
we’re not. Poverty, homelessness, and cannibalistic mutants are all very
serious issues and we should do everything we can to make the world a better
place. I’m hoping this post raises awareness, sends people over to the Blog
Action Day site, and gets them reading some of the
more worthy articles posted today.
C.H.U.D.
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/chud.jpg)CHUD has one of the trailers I remember best
from my youth. A genuine trashy product of the 80s, the film is a slightly
tongue in cheek monster movie featuring the titular Cannibalistic Humanoid
Underground Dwellers - mutated homeless people who are now living in New
York’s sewers. Daniel Stern stars as the manager of a grimy soup kitchen, and
John Heard plays a photographer asked to investigate the disappearance of the
previously mentioned homeless. It’s a pretty mucky little film, but remains
deeply charming and enjoyable to this day.
The Flesh and the Fiends
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10
/flesh-and-the-fiends.jpg)Medical advances are rarely cheap and it’s usually
the poor who feel the cost the most but in this day and age the burden is
usually financial, back in 1827 is was a little more…terminal . Peter
Cushing’s Doctor Knox heart is in the right place, his aim after all is the
betterment of mankind, but his cash unfortunately isn’t when he enlists Mr’s
Burke (George Rose) and Hare (Donald Pleasence) to supply him with cadavers
for his experiments. The unscrupulous pair, finding fresh corpses a little
hard to find, decide to create their own, preying on the poor and homeless
wretches they find on the grimy Edinburgh streets. Cushing gives his usual
impeccable performance but it’s Pleasence, at his sleazy best as the totally
immoral grave robber who steals the film. Director John Gilling brings a real
sense of the grimness of 19th Century living for those not born with a silver
spoon in their mouths.
Devil’s Backbone
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/devils-
backbone.jpg)Set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War, Guillermo Del
Toro’s ghost story has been described by the director as the sibling of his
Pan’s Labyrinth - this being the masculine half of the brother and sister
pair. Coming after Mimic and Chronos, this arguably set Del Toro on the path
he finds himself on today; without Devil’s Backbone, there’d be no Pan’s
Labyrinth (one of the most important films of the last few years in my eyes),
and it’s unlikely that Del Toro would find himself making the Hobbit.
The People Under The Stairs
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/people_under_the_stairs.jpg)One of Wes Craven’s better
efforts, this is something I’ve not seen for years. It’s a creepy, whimsical
tale of people enslaved by a crazy couple and forced to live in their
basement. When a boy breaks in to their house, all hell breaks lose. Will he
ultimately become the savior of The People Under The Stairs? Craven does a
great job at building the tension and atmosphere, and there’s a great mix of
themes. I’ll be revisiting this one soon.
They Live
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/they_live.jpg)Roddy Piper gives his finest screen
performance in John Carpenter’s 1988 tale of alien invasion. As Nada, he’s a
homeless drifter who takes work where he can find it and has a way with the
one liners. The idea of the poor and the downtrodden actually being
responsible for repelling an alien invasion, particularly where the aliens are
bribing the upper classes so they remain complacent, and subliminally brain
washing the middle classes, is classic stuff, and Piper’s performance is the
stuff of genuine action heroes. Also features one of the finest on-screen
brawls in cinema’s history.
Wolfen
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/wolfen-
dvd-cover.jpg)Based on Whitley Strieber’s novel, Wolfen is a great little not-
quite-Werewolf flick from 1981. Albert Finney, and Gregory Hines give two
great performances (it was this film that made me a fan of Finney all those
years ago) and there’s a genuinely creepy vibe about the film. Unlike the
book, where the poverty connection comes in the form of the Wolfen themselves;
downtrodden native american construction workers who can transform into
wolves, the Wolfen of the film are an intelligent race of wolves who prey on
the homeless because construction work is robbing them of their natural
habitat.
Driller Killer
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/drillerkiller.jpg)Director Abel Ferrara made his name
with this bit of ‘classic’ seventies grindhouse sleaze, not only taking the
lead behind the camera but in front of it as well as the titular power tool
wielding nutjob. Pretentious (Ferrara clearly wanted to make an ‘art’ film)
and full of unsympathetic characters (notably Abel’s struggling artist/killer)
this nevertheless holds a special place in the annals of horror cinema as one
of the films banned in UK after the eighties “Video Nasties” witch-hunt. The
homeless here aren’t even characters, just fodder for Ferrara’s Black ‘N’
Decker.
Prince of Darkness
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/prince_of_darkness.jpg)The homeless - led by shock
rocker Alice Cooper - form an unstoppable wall around a downtown church in
John Carpenter’s tale of Satan’s attempt to cross over into our world. The
presence of this one is a little tenuous in the list, but Cooper’s image seems
to have become a somewhat iconic representation of the film despite his
relative inactivity. Reminiscent of the army of goons in Assault on Precinct
13, the homeless horde hear seem somehow less threatening when they’re grouped
together, but their initial appearance is a little disconcerting.
Stuck
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/stuck1.jpg)Stuart Gordon directs Stephen Rea and Mena
Suvari in the story of a homeless man who’s hit by the car of a nurse who’s in
no fit state to drive. The early stages build a good amount of pathos for
Rea’s character, whch is essential when he becomes hopelessly embedded in the
windscreen of Suvari’s car. Based partly on true events, the film touches on
homelessness, despair, and modern culture’s desire to look the other way
rather than become caught up in something unpleasant. It also has a wicked
sense of humour.
Of all the films in this list, Stuck is probably to most damning reflection on
the state of modern society.
Street Trash
[](http://www.istherefood.com/wp-
content/uploads/2008/10/streettrash.jpg)The mid eighties was the golden age of
low budget horror schlock and while Street Trash isn’t quite up there with the
likes of Henenlotter’s Basket Case or Jackson’s Bad Taste it’s not without its
own trashy charm. Vietnam vets, revenge seeking mobsters, rape, castration and
necrophilia – what’s not to love? And I haven’t even mentioned the well-past-
its-sell-by-date booze that a greedy liquor store owner sells to the local
homeless. This is rotgut deserving of the title as it causes those imbibing it
to dissolve into puddles of goo. Despite its over-the-top nature and gross out
effects though, J. Michael Muro’s film has more of a social conscience than
most of the films on this list, for those who want to look that deep anyway.