This Week in Horror History | The Sixth Sense, Piranha & Bodies Bodies Bodies (Aug. 3–9)

August is the part of summer where everything feels a little overripe. The water is warm, the houses are sealed up tight against the heat, the storms roll in heavy, and somewhere in the dark, something is waiting for the perfect moment to surface. This week Horror History gives us mutant fish in vacation water, a little boy who sees what everyone else refuses to, a perfect housewife with a very bloody side hustle, and a party game that proves the scariest monster in the room might just be everyone you invited. Then, after the break, our deep cut Spotlight goes to an island where the sun is bright, the beaches are beautiful, and the thing hunting you is hungry in ways you can't understand.

Welcome back to this Week in Horror History, your weekly time machine through the creepiest anniversaries in film, TV, books, comics, and games. I'm your host, Henrique Couto, and we're talking all about August. Third through ninth. Coming up, Joe Dante turns summer swimming into a military experiment panic m Night. Shyamalan changes the ghost story forever. A Dark Horse comic gives us a mid century housewife with killer instincts and a twenty four traps, a group of friends in a hurricane with paranoia, bad decisions, and a party game from hell. Then, after the break for our deep cut spot Light, an Italian made Greek island nightmare with one of the nastiest reputations in all of cold horror.

August third, nineteen seventy eight, Piranha hits theaters and suddenly the safest summer activity on Earth feels like a bad idea. Joe Dante takes the obvious post Jaws assignment killer fish, screaming swimmers, vacation water, and he makes it faster, weirder, and meaner than any simple ripoff should be. The hook is wonderfully ridiculous, genetically altered piranha, cooked up by the military, of course, escape into the water system. From there, every lake, river and summer camp swimming hole becomes a potential feeding ground. But what makes Pirana work is the attitude. It knows it's a monster movie. It knows the premise is pure pulp, so it leans in sharp editing and dark humor, and the very specific terror of realizing nature is not the problem.

It's the people that are. The fish just have sharper teeth, and of course it's a Roger Corman production, so you know you're gonna get the three bees, as Joe Bob Briggs called them. I'm not gonna tell you what those stand for, because if you know, you know, Piranha is so much fun, a great time to have in the summer. Definitely give it a watch or a rewatch if you've never seen it, because honestly, I would be I would be shocked if you'd never seen this one. In a land of Jaws ripoffs, this is one of the best ones, and there are several really great Jaws ripoffs in my opinion.

It's not hard to find because it's streaming free with ads on two B TV, Pluto TV, even on Fandango and plaques. You can watch it totally free with ads, or catch it on the Peacock app with your subscription, and of course you can rent or buy it at Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at home. If ads just aren't your thing, I get it. You don't want them to take a bite out of your good time. On August sixth, nineteen ninety nine, the Sixth Sense opens in theaters in the United States, and The Ghost story is never quite the same, and it had no problem breaking your heart.

By now, the famous line and the famous twist are part of pop culture, I mean, down to the DNA. But the reason the movie still works is not that jaw dropping surprise. It's the sadness of the film. Really. Haley Joe Osmon plays Coal, a child surrounded by the dead and terrified to say it out loud. Bruce Willis plays the man trying to help him even as his own life feels strangely hollow, and m Knight Shyamalan builds the movie like a haunted house, brick by brick, where the scariest rooms are grief, loneliness and all the things left unsaid.

Yeah, the film is way way better than its reputation for having a great twist. Although the twist was a jaw dropper. Even if I had seen similar twists in episodes of Are You Afraid of the Dark, they didn't have Bruce Willis, so there you go. The sixth sense is spooky, absolutely spooky, but it's real power I think comes from empathy. It asks what happens when being haunted is not just a curse, but it's a responsibility. Sometimes the dead don't want to hurt you. Sometimes they just need someone, anyone to listen. And in that way we're not so different after all.

So if you want to give it a watch again knowing what the big twist is, or if somehow you've avoided the sixth sense for like three decades, well you should give it a watch. I mean, it is worth a revisit. I think m Night Shyamalan gets unfairly maligned, and there's a reason this film made him a global phenomena and a household name. It's available to rent or buy at the usual suspects, Amazon Video, Apple TV, and of course Fandango at Home. So give it a watch and realize that you don't only feel startled and shocked, but also just kind of sad.

But that's okay. August third, two, thy and sixteen, Lady Killer Number One hits comic shops and Domestic Perfection gets blood underneath its fingernails. Joel Jones brings back Josie Schuler, a stylish mother, flawless homemaker, and professional killer. The joke is sharp, but the horror edge is even sharper. The series takes the polished fantasy of mid century domestic life. You know, the perfect dress, the perfect kitchen, the perfect smile, and asks what might be hiding behind all of that performance. In Lady Killer, Violence is not some stranger crashing into the home. It's already there, wearing gloves, making dinner, and cleaning up after itself.

This is a great pick when it comes to comic books for horror movie lovers. It has the horror vibe but also a pop art kind of grin. Murder is the design, and it's a very pretty place to hide a body. So if you want to give this one a read, It's available in the Lady Killer Library edition and collected editions, with digital and library copies available through participating ebook platforms and physical copies from comics retailers or resellers online. So basically, wherever you get comic books or ebooks, you should be able to find it and make sure you wipe your shoes before you come in.

She gets a little testy about her carpets. August fifth, twoenty twenty two, Bodies, Bodies, Bodies arrives and the murder mystery gets extremely online, almost chronically online. A group of rich, messy friends gather at a mansion during a hurricane the power of course goes out, the phones become less than useful, and a party game turns into into panic. Suddenly everyone is accusing everyone else, not just of murder, but of being toxic, fake, selfish, performative, manipulative, basically every modern buzzword for a bad or nightmare friendship, but with a body count attached. And what makes Bodies Bodies Bodies a blast is that it understands slasher tension and it has a really good grip on kind of gen Z social anxiety.

The killer might be in the house, but the real dread is realizing every argument has been waiting for years to happen. It's sharp, chaotic, funny, and nasty, exactly the way being storm trapped with a bunch of friends that aren't really your friends would be. This film was horribly underrated when it came out in the theaters. I saw it opening week. I had a blast with it. It was funny, it was sharp, it was sardonic. It was everything you would want from a horror film with a lot of really dark humor, and it really skewered gen Z.

Sorry, guys, this film came right for you, and I was there for it. I went and saw it again two weeks later with a friend. I bought it on Blu Ray. I really love this one, and if you haven't seen it, give it a chance. You never know, you just might like it. You can watch it included with your Hulu subscription, or rent and or buy it on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home tomorrow on Weekly Spooky. Children trust that their parents will keep them safe. But what happens when the adults stop paying attention?

In let Down by Morgan Moore, a six year old girl watches her family slowly fall apart. Her mother is sick, her father has disappeared into his games. The cupboards are nearly empty, and her baby brother won't stop crying. She can't call for help. She can't explain what is wrong, but she knows the baby is hungry, and she remembers that mothers are supposed to make milk. So in the darkness of her parents' bedroom, she decides to solve the problem herself, using the simple logic of a frightened child and something she found in the kitchen. What follows is a deeply disturbing nightmare told through the eyes of someone too young to understand the screams because she was only trying to help.

She was only trying to feed her brother, and after everything she did, she has just one question left to ask, ask was she a good sister? Let Down by Morgan Moore premieres tomorrow on Weekly Spooky, So make sure you're subscribed, listen closely, and keep the kitchen drawers closed. Okay, Spookys, time for a quick breather. But when we come back, we're headed to August ninth, nineteen eighty for an Italian cult horror nightmare where the island is gorgeous, the locals are gone, and whatever's left is not interested in being rescued, just having a quick meal. We're back, my spookys, so let's sing car teeth into it.

On August ninth, nineteen eighty, Anthropophagus releases in Italy and earns the kind of cult reputation that usually comes with a warning label. Directed by the infamous Joe Demato, the film is also known internationally as The Grim Reaper, and it belongs to that grimy era of Italian horror where any travel itself feels cursed. Tourists arrive somewhere beautiful, but then the island is too quiet, and paradise quickly becomes a steel trap. The story follows visitors who land on a seemingly abandoned Greek island and discover that something monstrous has happened there. The horror is in no way polished, in no way elegant.

It's sun bleached and sweaty and cruel, the kind of film where every moment feels like your parents are gonna walk in at any moment and go, what the hell are you watching? Anthropophagus is infamous for its very extreme moments, and it's definitely not a cozy recommendation, unless maybe you had the kind of childhood I did. But even then, I still find the film pretty reprehensible and gross. As a deep cut spotlight, however, it is perfect because it captures a very specific corner of horror history, one that I have always been fascinated with. I was just watching a cheesy Lucio Fulci movie last night.

The video store title that is kind of whispered about because someone's older sibling claimed that someone else watched it at a party and they totally raffed. It's not about what's on screen so much as the reputation. The cover art, the alternate titles and that feel that you found something forbidden, because in America it was just whispers, but in other countries it was legitimately banned. I'm looking at you, England. That's the very special power with Anthropophagus. It's a horror film and a forbidden fruit. It's ugly, excessive and unforgettable, but only if you have the stomach for it.

And I'm going to tell you right now, if you're not sure, you probably haven't seen enough Italian horror movies to want to challenge yourself to this one. Maybe try something a little more mild, like Luccio Fulci's Zombie. Yeah, I would call it somewhat mild compared to Anthropophagus. Now, if you want to watch it free with ads, and why wouldn't you, you can check it out at Fandango at Home they have it free with ads. Or of course, you can rent and or buy it on Amazon Video, Apple TV or the aforementioned Fandango at Home. But maybe watch it on an empty stomach.

Just trust me on that one. Now it's time to bust out those creepy candles for some horror birthdays, starting with one of my favorite directors born on August third, nineteen fifty. John landis the man who brought you an American Werewolf in London, one of horror comedy's funniest, sharpest, and hairyest landmarks, as well as so many other films in so many different genres. He would kiss horror very often, while often keeping his other foot deeply set in comedy. His films definitely hit a very nostalgic button for me, and I really enjoy them. So Happy Birthday, John Landis born on August sixth, nineteen seventy.

M Night Shyamalan. What a twist, right? That seems appropriate. We just talked about one of his films, The filmmaker who turned quiet rooms and family secrets and sudden reversal into modern ghost story everything. I mean, the guy did reinvent a genre for many, many, many viewers and many filmmakers. Like him or hate him, you can't deny the effect he's had. And I've even really liked his later films. I think after the visit he really came back to form. I liked Trap a lot, and I say huge Happy birthday to M. Night Shamalan. Born on August sixth, the nineteen seventy three Vera Farmijia, genre royalty thanks to the Conjuring universe and of course Bates Motel and Orphan and really a gift to making fear feel emotionally grounded.

She has incredible understated expressions that somehow still move the needle greatly, an incredible addition to horror history and to horror's future. A very happy birthday, Vera Farmisia. And speaking of someone who had a huge impact on modern horror. On August seventh, nineteen forty two, Tobin Bell is born the voice, presence and unnerving moral gravity behind Jigsaw in the Saw franchise. And I know some people think those films are just torture for the sake of torture, and they're not entirely wrong, but that first Saw film is really inventive, had an incredible twist that would make m Night Shyamalan very proud.

And the sequels are so inventive. Love it or hate it. The fact that they could come up with so many ways to have people try to solve their way out of truly vile dismemberment is truly impressive. The creative mind knows no bounds. A very happy birthday, Tobin Bell. For our then and Now this week is horror changing masks in real time. Nineteen seventy eight gives us water that bites back, nineteen eighty gives us the forbidden cult object, the movie people talk about because it sounds too nasty to be real. Nineteen ninety nine gives us the ghost Story as an emotional confession, twenty and sixteen gives us horror in comic panels, all clean lines and dirty work, and twenty twenty two gives us the modern slasher as a meltdown in a group chat.

Everyone trapped, everyone suspicious, everyone absolutely making it worse. And finally, for our weekly recommendation, we're heading back to August ninth, nineteen fifty nine for a classic, when The Bat was released in the United States. If you want something to watch that's spooky, classic and wonderfully old dark house, you gotta put The Bat in your queue. It brings Vincent Price into a masked murder mystery, full of shadows and locked rooms and secret money and people wandering through a house they clearly should have exited hours ago. It's not the most bombastic horror film of this week, and it's for that reason that it fits perfectly in this recommendation, after Mutant Piranha, Cult, Cannibal Horror, and Hurricane Party paranoia, say that five times fast, the Bat feels like slipping into a creaky armchair next to a thunderstorm.

I mean, come on, you get vincent price, you get a killer with clawed gloves, suspicion, trapdoors, screams in the night, and that cozy black and white feeling where every hallway looks like it was built for someone to appear at the end of it. It's classic comfort horror, spooky without being punishing, stylish without being too stuffy, and perfect for a late summer night when you want the lights low and the windows dark. Although I like my black and white films on Sunday mornings. If I had my choice as far as where to watch The Bat, if you've never seen it before, you're going to enjoy it.

And if you've seen it before, well, like I said, it'll be a big bowl of chicken noodle soup for your horror soul. It's streaming free with ads at Roku channel, Pluto TV, too Be, and Fowsome, and of course you can rent or buy it on Amazon, Prime Video, Apple TV, and fandango at home. Well, my spookys, that was your trip through August third to August ninth in horror history. Make sure to stick around tomorrow Wednesday for a fresh horror story waiting just for you at Weekly Spooky, and on Thursday something thrilling as I bring you Thursday Thrills, where we talk about whatever is chillingly permeating through the horror world to make sure you don't fall behind.

And of course I'll be right back here next Tuesday, bringing you another creepy calendar to dig through. So until next time, remember our days are numbered because that's how we tell them apart. See you next week.