Kate’s Review: “Horror Movie”

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Book: “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay

Publishing Info: William Morrow, June 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: A chilling twist on the “cursed film” genre from the bestselling author of The Pallbearers Club and The Cabin at the End of the World.

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: Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an eARC of this novel!

Hooray hooray, it’s finally time for another Paul Tremblay horror novel!! I always look forward to seeing what this master of horror literature comes up with next, as not only can I count on it being deeply deeply upsetting in a scary sense, I can also count on it being deeply deeply upsetting in a ‘I am experiencing utter despair’ sense. And in “Horror Movie” we get both of those things and then some as we are told the story of a production of a ‘cursed’ horror movie, which starts as a shoe string low budget project and ends up as a tragedy that has to be shut down… only for a reboot in the works years later, with one of the last people involved standing being tapped to participate. This alone was enough to have me on board, but with Tremblay at the helm I knew that this was going to be a ride. And man, I really adored it.

There were so many elements of this book that really, really got under my skin. One reason for this is the narrative structure, as we are kind of flipping back and forth between two. The first is that of the unreliable (as we slowly start to realize) narration of our Unnamed Protagonist who played “The Thin Kid” in the original film as he navigates the new situation of a reboot and reminisces about his time on set with friends and coworkers Valentina (the director), Cleo (the writer), and the other people involved in the production that becomes a new member of the ‘cursed films’ club when tragedy after tragedy befalls so many people connected to the project. What starts out as a pretty straight forward thread that seems like a reminiscing and a slow reveal to the first domino of an incident that closed down the film gradually starts to transform into something very, very odd, and downright unnerving. And then on the other side we get snippets from Cleo’s original script for “Horror Movie”, which starts as a pretty familiar arthouse horror film with a little bit of an inflated sense of itself, but then really, REALLY starts to shift towards something that is, indeed, a bit genius but also bizarre. There is one moment describing a long holding shot towards the end of the book that really, really creeped me out because of how Tremblay drew it out, and I genuinely began to feel anxiety and was nervously giggling to myself as it went on. Tremblay has always been SO good at creating completely nerve wracking moments and beats without spilling into ludicrous or unworkable territory, and “Horror Movie” is another masterclass in this. And it really messed with me.

But this is also a really interesting take on the idea of art creation and how it can consume the creator, but also how art can come to life due to the belief in it, whether or not it’s from the creator itself or from the audience that it finds. There are some obvious explorations of this, mostly as “The Thin Kid” has to basically be method during the production and is isolated from everyone else and even goes to extreme lengths to get into character. But we also kind of see this through Valentina and Cleo’s methods as they are filming, as they have such grand ideas and lofty heights for their creation and how they want it to turn out. And even the way that the movie garners a following in spite of the fact it was never completed and never officially released, but through a few scenes being posted to YouTube which somehow brings not only the fanbase to life, but also other things that perhaps didn’t have the power they wield until a love of the art itself spread far and wide. It’s such an interesting examination of the power of art, for better or for worse. You get the sense that our protagonist probably wouldn’t be on the path he ends up on were it not for the film he was a part of, and not just because of what happened on the set.

Another fantastic novel from Paul Tremblay. I really loved “Horror Movie” in all its weird, nerve-wracking glory. I always look forward to Tremblay’s twisted horror tales, and highly recommend that horror fans check him out if you haven’t already!

Rating 9: A strange, deeply disturbing meditation on the creation of art, the way a myth can build, and how creation can influence destiny.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Horror Movie” is included on the Goodreads lists “Lost Films & Cursed Movies”, and “Found Footage”.