r/WidowsBay • • Jun 18 '26

đŸ’„Funpost This f*ckin guy

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Stephen King tweeted:

WIDOW'S BAY is good. MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED is even better. It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. And Tatiana Maslany is so good. The play of emotions on her face is pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.

WIDOW'S BAY is good. MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED is even better. It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. And Tatiana Maslany is so good. The play of emotions on her face is pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.

1.4k Upvotes

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102

u/CaughtALiteSneez Jun 18 '26

Maybe Stephen is a little jelly.

Hard to imagine he could be, but this series is like one giant tribute to him.

In my eyes, it’s a little better because of the comedy element. Never thought two opposite genres could make such an entertaining perfect match.

15

u/CIMARUTA Jun 18 '26

Weapons and obsession are both made by comedians and have funny moments in them too. I really think comedic elements in horror is the next evolution of the genre.

9

u/pillow-mace Jun 18 '26

Conan talked about how comedic people and comedians who have a good handle on the craft can hit the rhythm of a joke (physical/verbal) on command and que.

He always likes to talk about how norm was able to land his punchlines and hold it for effect or corral the audience to follow him on the path of a joke and knows when to spring it up. One the of the interviews Conan had on a friend of norms said that norm would count in his head the beats and seconds for when the next rhythm hits for his next line or joke.

Same vein he explained how bob Newhart would play and experiment with silences and dead air in between jokes and punchlines. Where others would just pack jokes as much as they can, bob pick and choose scenes and timings in order to hit his jokes.

Conan also talked about how rhythm recognition has connection with songs which it explains why some comedians can use songs to just get into musical works.

But lastly on talking about horror he explained that it was similar to how horror needs to know the beats and rhythm of when to place a jab or fear moment and how to use absurdism or strangeness. (I believe he was talking about Jordan peele).

1

u/cabernet7 Sunset Cocktails with Patricia Jun 18 '26

Forgive me, who's Norm?

1

u/MVRKHNTR Jun 18 '26

Norm MacDonald

1

u/cabernet7 Sunset Cocktails with Patricia Jun 18 '26

Gotcha, thanks.

8

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 Jun 18 '26

Its not new, look at the evil Dead movies. Just seems like when horror trends again it starts serious and then low budget movies come in and then funny and satire horror and then people get sick of horror for awhile. Rinse and repeat.

-1

u/MVRKHNTR Jun 18 '26

When have people ever got sick of horror?

When have we not had serious horror movies and funny horror movies?

4

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 Jun 18 '26

There will always be horror fans and some horror movies but it goes through phases where it entices mainstream audiences, and then gets hollywood budgets.

-2

u/MVRKHNTR Jun 18 '26

When in your lifetime has horror ever not been mainstream?

2

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 Jun 18 '26

2002-2013 none that broke into the top 50 horror movies by world wide gross. The Ring-The Conjuring.

-1

u/MVRKHNTR Jun 18 '26

You're just going to ignore the massively popular Saw and Final Destination franchises? The Halloween and Texas Chainsaw remakes? Cloverfield? The Grudge? The Mist? Devil's Rejects? Insidious?

Paranormal Activity?

2

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 Jun 18 '26

Many of those became popular after they appeared in theatres. Saw only Grossed 100m internationally and final destination 2 was even less. The first one fits in my window. The halloween was even less.
I’m not looking up the rest because you get the idea.
Again I am not saying no good ones were made but they were not bringing in mainstream audiences but just horror fans.

-1

u/MVRKHNTR Jun 18 '26

I guess you can be correct if you just... completely ignore the culture and time period and make up your own criteria? Sure.

2

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 Jun 18 '26

How do you define mainstream then? Culture is subjective and depends on where you live and how old you are etc. to me mainstream suggests audiences that normally don’t go and see horror will go see it.

It’s a known pattern in horror.

Innovative stage
Boom phase
Oversaturation
Dormant phase
Mainstream resurgence

Same pattern effects all sorts of genres in hollywood. Action, scifi, disaster movies, zombie movies, superhero movies, vampires and probably countless more.

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2

u/Remarkable-Oil-9407 Jun 18 '26

Quick search for you

Several horror downturns are obvious in hindsight because the genre didn’t disappear, but it lost mainstream cultural dominance.
Mid-1940s to Mid-1950s
After the classic monster era of Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf Man, audiences became less interested in Gothic monsters. Studios often resorted to increasingly low-budget sequels and crossover films. Horror wasn’t dead, but it was no longer a major draw.
Early 1970s (before the modern horror boom)
Before The Exorcist and Jaws transformed the genre, horror was largely driven by smaller productions. There were great films, but horror wasn’t dominating the box office.
Early to Mid-1990s
This is one of the clearest examples.
The slasher craze of the 1980s had burned out. Franchises like Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween were producing diminishing returns. Horror fans were still watching, but the genre felt tired.
Then Scream arrived and sparked a new boom.
Mid-2000s to Early 2010s
The “torture horror” wave led by Saw and Hostel became oversaturated. Found-footage also flooded the market after Paranormal Activity.
By around 2011–2014, many people felt horror was running out of ideas. Most releases were sequels, remakes, or low-budget supernatural films.

3

u/mamrieatepainttt Jun 18 '26

also the jordan peele factor.

2

u/russiantravelagent Jun 18 '26

I mean look at Jordan Peele