#classic indian horror

[garlandedspirits]

rip 1920′s Conrad Veidt fangirls, you would have loved 2020′s tumblr

[theomenmedia]

Tumbbad Last Screenings

Experience the final screenings of 'Tumbbad' - where horror meets heritage. Don't miss your chance to dive into this cinematic masterpiece one last time.

Link to the full story: https://www.theomenmedia.com/post/unveiling-the-dark-treasures-the-last-screenings-of-tumbbad

[goryhorroor]

masterpost of horror lists

here are all my horror lists in one place to make it easier to find! enjoy!

sub-genres

action horror

analog horror

animal horror

animated horror

anthology horror

aquatic horror

apocalyptic horror

backwoods horror

bubblegum horror

campy horror

cannibal horror

children’s horror

comedy horror

coming-of-age horror

corporate/work place horror

cult horror

dance horror

dark comedy horror

daylight horror

death games

domestic horror

ecological horror

erotic horror

experimental horror

fairytale horror

fantasy horror

folk horror

found footage horror

giallo horror

gothic horror

grief horror

historical horror

holiday horror

home invasion horror

house horror

indie horror

isolation horror

insect horror

lgbtqia+ horror

lovecraftian/cosmic horror

medical horror

meta horror

monster horror

musical horror

mystery horror

mythological horror

neo-monster horror

new french extremity horror

paranormal horror

political horror

psychedelic horror

psychological horror

religious horror

revenge horror

romantic horror

dramatic horror

science fiction horror

slasher

southern gothic horror

sov horror (shot-on-video)

splatter/body horror

survival horror

techno-horror

vampire horror

virus horror

werewolf horror

western horror

witch horror

zombie horror

horror plots/settings

road trip horror

summer camp horror

cave horror

doll horror

cinema horror

cabin horror

clown horror

wilderness horror

asylum horror

small town horror

college horror

plot devices

storm horror

from a child’s perspective

final girl/guy (this is slasher horror trope)

last guy/girl (this is different than final girl/guy)

reality-bending horror

slow burn horror

possession

pregnancy horror

foreign horror or non-american horror

african horror

spanish horror

middle eastern horror

korean horror

japanese horror

british horror

german horror

indian horror

thai horror

irish horror

scottish horror

slavic horror (kinda combined a bunch of countries for this)

chinese horror

french horror

australian horror

canadian horror

decades

silent era

30s horror

40s horror

50s horror

60s horror

70s horror

80s horror

90s horror

2000s horror

2010s horror

2020s horror

companies/services

blumhouse horror

a24 horror

ghosthouse horror

shudder horror

other lists

horror literature to movies

techno-color horror movies

video game to horror movie adaption

video nasties

female directed horror

my 130 favorite horror movies

horror movies critics hated because they’re stupid

horror remakes/sequels that weren’t bad

female villains in horror

horror movies so bad they’re good

non-horror movies that feel like horror movies

directors + their favorite horror movies + directors in the notes

tumblr’s favorite horror movie (based off my poll)

horror movie plot twists

cult classic horror movies

essential underrated horror films

worst horror movie husbands

religious horror that isn’t christianity 

black horror movies

extreme horror (maybe use this as an avoid list)

horror shorts

[ratgrinders]

Never Stop Blowing Up Favorite Movies

Wendell Morris

Weird Science - 1985 science fantasy/teen comedy. "Nerdy social outcast students Gary Wallace and Wyatt Donnelly are humiliated by senior jocks Ian and Max for swooning over their cheerleader girlfriends. Humiliated and disappointed at their direction in life and wanting more, Gary is inspired by the 1931 classic Frankenstein to create a virtual woman using Wyatt's computer, infusing her with everything they can conceive to make the perfect dream woman."

The Fast and the Furious - "A media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family."

Real Genius - 1985 science fiction/comedy. "Chris Knight, a genius in his senior year, is paired with a new student on campus, Mitch Taylor, to work on a chemical laser, only to learn it will be used for dangerous purposes."

Liv Skyler

Empire Records - 1995 coming-of-age comedy/drama. "The film follows a group of record store employees over the course of one exceptional day. The employees try to stop the store from being sold to a large chain, and learn about each other along the way."

Scarface - 1983 crime drama, and a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. "It tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana, who arrives penniless in Miami during the Mariel boatlift and becomes a powerful drug lord." Additionally, "Less than two months before the film's release, Scarface was given an X rating by the MPAA for "excessive and cumulative violence and for language".

Clueless - 1995 coming-of-age teen comedy. "Considered to be one of the best teen films of all time...The plot centers on a beautiful, popular, and rich high school student who befriends a new student and decides to give her a makeover while playing matchmaker for her teachers and examining her own existence".

Usha Rao

The Horse in Motion - Published in 1878, a sequential series of 6 cabinet cards depicting the movement of a horse. Regarded as "the world's first bit of cinema", and the first film ever created.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 1931 horror film. "An adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson tale of a man who takes a potion which turns him from a mild-mannered man of science into a homicidal maniac."

102 Not Out - 2018 Indian Hindi-language comedy drama. "Dattatraya Vakharia is a lively 102-year-old who lives his life to the maximum and takes everything in a jovial way for his heart is that of a 26-year-old youngster regardless of his age. His 75-year-old son, Babulal Vakharia, is his exact opposite for he believes that he is now too old and fragile to enjoy life and lives a routine life."

Russell Feeld

American Gigolo - 1980 neo-noir crime drama. "A high-priced male escort who becomes romantically involved with a prominent politician's wife, while simultaneously becoming the prime suspect in a murder case."

La Femme Nikita - 1990 French-language action thriller. "[Nikita] is a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering policemen during an armed pharmacy robbery. Her government handlers fake her death and recruit her as a professional assassin. After intense training, she starts a career as a killer, where she struggles to balance her work with her personal life."

Waking Life - 2001 animated film. "The film explores a wide range of philosophical issues, including the nature of reality, dreams and lucid dreams, consciousness, the meaning of life, free will, and existentialism. It is centered on a young man who wanders through a succession of dreamlike realities wherein he encounters a series of people who engage in insightful philosophical discussions."

Andy 'Dang' Litefoot

Suburbia - 1983 coming-of-age drama thriller. Follows "a group of suburban youths who run away from home and adopt a punk lifestyle by squatting in abandoned suburban tract homes."

Goldfinger - 1964 spy film and the third installment in the James Bond series. "The film's plot has Bond investigating gold smuggling by gold magnate Auric Goldfinger and eventually uncovering Goldfinger's plans to contaminate the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox."

Fire in the Sky - 1993 biographical science fiction mystery. "It is based on Travis Walton's book The Walton Experience, which describes an extraterrestrial abduction"

Paula Donvalson

Muriel's Wedding - 1994 Australian comedy-drama. "The film focuses on the socially awkward Muriel whose ambition is to have a glamorous wedding and improve her personal life by moving from her dead-end hometown, the fictional Porpoise Spit, to Sydney."

The Long Kiss Goodnight - 1996 action thriller. "The story follows an amnesiac schoolteacher who sets out to recover her identity with the help of a private detective when they discover a dark conspiracy."

Under the Tuscan Sun - 2003 romantic comedy-drama. "Based on Frances Mayes' 1996 memoir of the same name, the film is about a recently divorced writer who buys a villa in Tuscany on a whim, hoping it will lead to a change in her life."

[aahanna]

Jasmine Dhunna was a rising star in Bollywood, known for her natural beauty and screen presence. She made a significant impact with her roles, especially in the 1991 movie Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, where she portrayed the character of "Anjali." Her elegance and effortless charm caught the audience’s attention, making her a memorable part of Bollywood during the early '90s.

Another notable film was Veerana (1988), a cult classic in the horror genre. Her portrayal in this movie contributed to her fame, where her stunning looks were matched by her ability to convey complex emotions, making her a standout figure in the film.

Despite her budding success, Jasmine Dhunna mysteriously disappeared from the industry after these films. She stepped away from the limelight, leaving her fans wondering what could have been if she continued her journey in Bollywood. Her sudden withdrawal only added to her mystique, making her an enigmatic figure in Indian cinema to this day.

Her beauty, talent, and the aura of mystery around her disappearance continue to fascinate fans, making her a timeless figure in Bollywood history.

[oneknightstand-if]

If all the ROs were in a classic horror movie, how would they die (or survive)?

Merlin: The veteran who seemingly knows too much. Makes it to the climax to keep up all the "are they really on our side?" tension. May or may not survive the ending.

Adrian: The best friend character who dies at the climax to save the MC.

Arthur: The McGuffin that everyone is trying to reach in order to save themselves from the horror. So basically the cavalry that comes riding in to save the survivor(s) at the end.

Percy: "Dies" early on in the movie. Then at the end it gets revealed that several of the "coincidences" that were happening throughout the movie were actually him acting behind the scenes after faking his own death.

4̵0̷4̶ ̴E̶r̵r̷o̵r̶ ̵N̴o̶t̴ ̵F̷o̶u̵n̴d̷: They are the horror in the movie. I guess they miraculously survive the final battle if a sequel seems financially viable.

Cassandra: She's the cop with the gun so... these types tend to go insane and start trying to kill the heroes halfway through the movie. Have fun with that!

Gwen: Seems like she's going to be one of the survivors right up to the last few minutes of the movie where she takes an unfortunate ax to the head.

Vivian: A third party that helps during the first movie. Ends up a main antagonist in the sequel.

Lorelei: One of the main forces that protects the group throughout the movie. Gets killed at the beginning of the big climax to signal that 'shit has gotten real'!

Broderick: Tries to immediately leave the obvious horror movie set-up (no, no, he's not going into that obviously haunted house built on top of the 'old indian burial ground' on Friday the 13th during the solar eclipse) and is the first one killed.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #8 – The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham James

This has been on my tbr for long enough that I entirely forget what originally put it there – the only thing I actually knew going in was that the author was ‘the My Heart is a Chainsaw guy’ (I have not read My Heart is a Chainsaw yet either). Given the genre, that was honestly probably ideal. As was the fact that a blizzard hit a couple days after I started it and I’ve been reading it looking out on a frozen snowscape – it’s very much a winter sort of story.

The story’s told in five parts of wildly varying lengths, each with it’s own endearingly cheesy b-horror movie title and each following a different protagonist. The first four each follow one of a friend group who, as a bunch of fuckup teenagers, trespassed on hunting grounds that were really supposed to be reserved for elders and shot a bunch of elk they had no right to – including a pregnant young cow who was for one reason or another special. Ten years later, the Elk-Headed Woman drags herself back into the world, and begins getting her vengeance for the death of her and her child on each of them (and everyone they care about) in turn.

I have a longstanding opinion that a full-length novel is just too long to sustain a real horror story – by 300 pages things have fairly reliably collapse into urban fantasy or action or farce. The breakup into different parts solves this very well – they’re all very much connected and interwoven, but each feels like its own distinct narrative unit with its own tension and rising action.

And this is very much a horror story in the classic, just barely short of shlocky sense. A trespass against vague but understood sacred laws that leads to horrific and bloody retribution against everyone involved is as close to archtypal horror as you can possibly get, after all. The last section is even focused on a Final Girl! Specifically, it’s a subgenre that I can’t really name but feels very familiar to me – and one I’ve always been a huge fan of, anyway. It’s somewhere downstream of The Count of Monte Cristo, a story where the agent of supernatural doom spends the majority of the story consciously working in the background, manipulating events and exacerbating the protagonist/victim’s flaws to lead them to a contrived but tragic end? Think the netflix Fall of the House of Usher, but like about the exact opposite end of the socioeconomic spectrum.

Class is very much something the book cares about. All four protagonists grew up poor on a reservation with little in the way of wealth or opportunity, and by the time they’d turned eighteen all four of them were the kind of young asshole who made life just a little bit worse for everyone around them dealing with the same shit. Ten years latter the three of them who’ve survived that long have gotten over themselves and matured in their own way (and to their own degree), but none of them are exactly flush with cash or living lives of bourgeois respectability (though Lewis comes close). The precarity and only tenuous connections to the society around them just make them better prey for what’s hunting them, of course – in every case, death comes after the (either metaphorical or very viscerally literal) destruction of the few close ties they have, and the only one to survive is also the only one who could really expect people to come rushing to their rescue.

Speaking of close ties the protagonists have – the book’s conception of gender is fascinatingly weird, or at least fascinating in the sense that I’m not at all sure how intentional it is. Of the four main victims, one dies alone at eighteen, and the other three who survive the next ten years are all pretty much explicitly saved (or at least improved and uplifted) by a relationship with a woman who, if not flawless, is basically strictly his moral and practical better. Even the most consistent fuckup of the group has a redeeming feature of being willing to do just about anything for his daughter (despite having lost the chance to really be a big part of her life several times over). With one exception, these women all then die, messily, entirely and explicitly to fuck with and ruin the lives of their men. It’s like someone read Women in Refrigerators and went ‘well there’s an idea...’. It’s blatant enough that I feel like it’s got to be making a deliberate point, but (unless it’s just genre emulation) what the point is does escape me slightly.

Also on the note of stuff I’m quite sure is going over my head at least a bit – basketball! It’s a pretty vital thread running through the entire book, to the point that one of the big set pieces of the final act is literally a basketball game with the monster. Which, like, I watched enough bad anime as a small child to find contrived game-playing under unclear mythic rules with things that really want to kill you instinctively endearing, but I can’t really do anything with this except just point at it.

So as the title might imply, this is a novel that’s concerned with race – all but I believe exactly one character is either is either Blackfeet or Crow, more than half the book takes place on a reservation, and a chunk of the rest is spent having to deal with racist assholes of varying severity. Now, I admit that I have at this point a probably overly cynical view of books that end up on breathless ‘socially conscious horror’ or ‘s/ff from diverse creators you NEED to read’ lists online, but I was still rather pleasantly by how matter-of-factly this was handled? I suppose the best way to put it is that culture, upbringing and racialization deeply inform everyone’s characters, but it never feels like the book is preoccupied with providing some assumed naive and impressionable audience any Important Lessons or provide Good Representation to valourize or emulate? Which is probably just a sign I need to raise and re calibrate my expectations, but.

The monster doesn’t exactly work as, like, a coherent character in terms of her skills and abilities, but as a monster the Elk-Headed Woman is great. But then I love contrived fucked up tragedies and am a longstanding partisan of Spooky Deer Horror, so I suppose I would say that.

So yeah, fun read!

[ninja-muse]

At last, a month where I feel like I read enough! The trick, clearly, was to pick up graphic novels and other very short things. Will this trend continue in November? Almost certainly not.

Followers might have seen my review for The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan last week but that's not actually my top read of the month. That honour goes to Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney, which I got as an ARC from work, told myself I wouldn't read just yet, then promptly picked up after The Dollmakers and all but burned through. It's about the female authors we know Austen read and why they were bestsellers in their day but are barely known now, with all sorts of publishing and book industry history thrown in, along with a dose of memoir. Needless to say, I was the target audience and I've added a good handful of classics to my TBR. (It's out in February, in case you're interested.)

The rest of my top reads are there for just being solidly good. The Disappearing Spoon gave me all the fun science history I wanted. The Angel of Indian Lake gave me a good horror trilogy ending. The Tropic of Serpents gave me more Lady Trent adventures. And so on. I only really had two misses: The Aeronaut's Windlass, which felt very by-the-books epic fantasy without pushing boundaries, and Wordhunter, which I'm actively recommending people don't read. It was utterly average and kind of trying too hard to be edgy, and then it needlessly introduced sexual violence against women and children and handled both badly. How a book that lets a pedophile off with a warning got published in 2024, I will never understand.

In happier news, my book haul! Two books this month: Sorcery and Small Magics, sent by the publisher, and another volume of The Unwritten, meaning I only need to find one and I've got the full run. Hurray! (If you ever spot Vol. 9, folks, lemme know.)

All that reading means that I haven't done much writing. I need to get back to that, but at least I know what was blocking me and am working to rectify the situation. I am, however, starting to get seriously envious of authors who were able to write during the pandemic and are now getting those novels published. I stopped writing entirely for a year and a half, for various reasons, and now I feel like I've fallen behind.

Someday I might return to the Not-Quite-Urban Fantasy but I'm still too raw to handle the edits even now.

Oh, the worlds of might-have-been!

And now I've gone and left this on a down note. There'll be more positivity next month, I promise. In the meantime, here’s my list of everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf - Rebecca Romney

A rare book dealer explores the literary histories of Austen’s favourite female authors, and how they didn’t make the English canon the way Austen did. Out in February.

8/10

reading copy

The Disappearing Spoon - Sam Kean

An entertaining history of chemistry, atomic physics, and the elements of the periodic table.

8/10

library ebook

The Tropic of Serpents - Marie Brennan

Isabella Camherst travels south to Bayembe to study savannah dragons, but finds herself caught in politics and sent on a mission to the swamp of Mouleen.

7.5/10

African-coded secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (asexual)

library book

The Dollmakers - Lynn Buchanan

When Shean of Pearl receives, and refuses, an artisan dollmaker license, she sets off for a remote village to prove she and her dolls have what it takes to be guards against the Shod. If this means luring the monsters in, so be it.

7.5/10

reading copy

The Angel of Indian Lake - Stephen Graham Jones

Jade Daniels, now Proofrock’s history teacher, has put slasher cycles behind her. Except it’s looking like another one’s started anyway.

7.5/10

Blackfoot protagonist, 🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), Black secondary characters

warning: blood, gore, death, murder

reading copy

Reluctant Immortals - Gwendolyn Kiste

Lucy Westrena and Bee Rochester are trying to get through the days in 1967 LA when their exes return in San Fransisco.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic), Jamaican-British secondary character

warning: abusive relationships

reading copy

Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle

After Misha refuses to kill off his queer leads for the season finale, he finds himself stalked by horror villains he created.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (bi, aroace), 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: death, murder, torture, homophobia, child abuse

library book

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7 - G. Willow Wilson with Mirka Andolfo (Illustrator), Takeshi Miyazawa (Illustrator)

Kamala Khan faces two difficult foes: gerrymandering and a sentient computer virus.

6.5/10

Pakistani-American protagonist, Muslim protagonist, Pakistani-American secondary characters, Muslim secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (sapphic), Black secondary character, secondary character with limb damage and a cane, Muslim author

warning: outing

off my TBR

Paladin’s Grace - T. Kingfisher

Stephen is a paladin whose god has died. Grace is a perfumer trying to keep her past buried. Witnesses to a failed assassination, they now must work together to navigate a world of intrigue, poisoners, and zealots. It’s a good thing they like each other.

6.5/10

off my TBR/ebook

Plain Jane and the Mermaid - Vera Brosgol

When Jane’s potential fiancé is kidnapped by a mermaid, she descends into the depths to rescue him even though she can never hope to compete with true waifish beauty.

7.5/10

warning: body shaming

library book

Sorcery and Small Magics - Maiga Doocy

Leovander Loveage and Sebastian Grimm get along like oil and water—which makes it all the worse when Leo's hit with an illegal curse and they must work together to break it.

6.8/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (achillean), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (achillean), 🏳️‍🌈 minor character (ungendered), minor character with dark skin, minor character who uses a cane

gifted by publisher

Dictionary of Fine Distinctions - Eli Bernstein

Illuminating and illustrated definitions of commonly confused words.

7/10

library book

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - Satoshi Yagisawa

When Takako finds herself adrift in life, she accepts a room in her estranged uncle’s bookshop.

7/10

Japanese cast, Japanese author

library book

Wordhunter - Stella Sands

A spiky forensic linguistics student is tapped by her local PD to help find a kidnapped teen, but that brings up a missing person’s case from her own past. Too close, too soon.

2/10

Black secondary character

warning: drug use, alcohol abuse, rape and an odd attitude towards its aftermath, pedophiles given a pass

library book

Picture books

All the Books - Hayley Rocco

Piper loves books so much she takes her whole collection everywhere, but when her wagons tip over in the rain she discovers … the library!

9/10

DNF

The Aeronaut’s Windlass - Jim Butcher

The cold war between Spires Albion and Aurora is heating up, and something uncanny is showing itself. Caught in it all are Captain Grimm, late of the Predator, a handful of trainee guards, and a prince of cats.

library ebook

Currently reading

The Price of the Stars - Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald

When Beka’s politician mother is assassinated, her father gives her his warship in exchange for her tracking the assassins down. But when someone has it in for your family, sometimes one must take drastic measures.

off my TBR

The Empress Letters - Linda Rogers

A mother in the 1920s writes her life story in a series of letters to the daughter she’s searching for in China.

🇨🇦, Chinese secondary characters

warning: fetal remains, anti-Chinese racism

off my TBR

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 14 + 1 Yearly total: 106 Queer books: 3 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 9 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 0 Classics: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 3 Books hauled: 2 ARCs acquired: 3 ARCs unhauled: 4 DNFs: 1

January February March April May June July August September

[hood-ex]

This got long so I decided to send it in an ask.

So India has like a dozen film industries organized by language. Bollywood is the biggest and that's Hindi. There are also movies n Tamil, Telegu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Punjabi and more. I won't go into all of them because I mostly watch movies in Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi and the occasional Telegu movie.

(super cool thing is that sometimes, there's actors who work in multiple film industries so it can be like a fun surprise when you see someone you associate with a specific language pop up somewhere else)

I tried to pick based on what you said you liked in one of the other replies. You mentioned you like musicals though so you'll be happy to know that songs are integral to Indian movies. Also these recs are a mix of personal favorites and ones I know to be popular/iconic because if it was just up to me, half of these would be thrillers, horror or crime because I think indian films do those genres really well. They also lean heavily towards romcoms.

Hindi:

Sholay (1975) This is just a classic Hindi action movie starring Amitabh Bachchan, who's possibly the biggest actor from Bollywood in the 70s and 80s Like even i've watched it and I haven't even taken the time to look through 70s Hindi movies yet.

Hum Hain Rahi Pyar Ke (1993) A runaway bride gets taken in by three kids and they have to hide her so their uncle who's taking care of them doesn't kick her out. The kids are so goddamn cute. This stars two very known 90s stars, Amir Khan and Juhi Chawla.

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) Iconic Hindi romance starring equally iconic pair of Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Shah Rukh is by far the most popular beloved actor in Bollwood since the 90s and arguably still today. Him and Kajol were a big pair that did tons of movies together in the 90s and early 2000s. I cannot understate how popular these two are.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) Another, arguably even more iconic Shah Rukh Kajol romance but it's a love triangle. Personally, I can't stand this movie but it's super duper popular and also features the love of my life, Rani Mukherjee as the 'it' girl Tina that Shah Rukh's character initially falls in love with.

Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham (2001) I'm sorry, I don't know how this ended up being all Shah Rukh Kajol movies but I needed to mention it because this is my personal favorite from this pair and in general. I also love the way this leans into the 2000s aesthetic in the second half and you're going to be baffled and amused by the character Pooja in the second half.

Devdas (2002) Devdas is an epic tragic love triangle featuring again Shah Rukh Khan but also Aishwarya Rai, one of the most influential celebrities to come out of India in the modern age and Madhuri Dixit, beloved actress and dancer from the late 80s/early 90s. The song 'Dola Re' from this movie is one of the coolest dance sequences to exist.

Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) A modern love triangle- you know, I didn't realize how many love triangles are on here but this one will make you cry. It's a romcom but I promise, the tears will come. And then you'll watch it again.

Om Shanti Om (2007) A love letter to Golden Age Bollywood, this movie is going to pack in approximately 15 references per minute, you won't understand any of them and it will still be an excellent time. At heart, this is a fantasy romance/revenge featuring reincarnation (which is a suuuper popular trope but ended up being sparse on this list). Starring Shah Rukh Khan across Deepika Padukone in her first role (they go on to be a pretty beloved pair though not as much as srk and kajol). I rewatch this 1-2 times a year.

Jodhaa Akbar (2008) Starring Aishwarya Rai again, this is a historical romantic drama set in the 1500s. I always get distracted by how beautiful the costuming in this is. You'll recognize Hrithik Roshan from Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham but with the ugliest mustache known to mankind.

3 Idiots (2009) is a comedy/coming-of-age about 3 college friends. Sounds basic but it's really hmm, heartfelt? Starring Amir Khan.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013) coming of age romance/drama/comedy something about a group of college friends. Stars Deepika Padukone across Ranbir Kapoor (big 2010s actor).

Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavadahn (2020) first big blockbuster type movie about queer people. It made me cry, i made a gif from this my header for like over a year, it's a bit cliche but yk

Telegu

Telegu's really hit it off in the last 10 years or so but I've only a passing familiarity and I definitely can't tell you what's been popular in the last couple decades. BUT

Bahubali 1 and 2 (2015/2017) It was a cultural phenomenon when it came out, because of the effects and cinematography but also largely because of how it's one story split intentionally into two movies. That concept was unheard of in Indian film and the overwhelming success of Bahubali is directly responsible for the dozens of 2 and 3 part film series being produced today in south indian films. It's like an epic fantasy action movie(s) about- actually i'm not going to spoil the plot on this one. In simplest terms, it's about a guy learning about his dad.

RRR (2022) Not a personal favorite but it actually has a tumblr fanbase. Bromance but like two indian revolutionaries fighting against the british in pre-independence India. Really, it's very much about their friendship. Stars Jr NTR and Ram Charan, both of whom are pretty popular Telegu actors. This like Bahubali was an insanely popular hit.

Tamil (this was so hard because i like tamil movies but i don't think they're the greatest. They do however have the best love songs, hands down)

Kadhalan (1994) It's an action romance ft politics and terrorists but at heart, it's a inter-class romance about a college kid that falls in love with a politician's daughter. You may have noted by now that inter-class romances are a BIG theme in indian movies. This stars Prabhu who is still an iconic choreographer and dancer and Nagma.

Minsara Kanavu (1997) a romance Prabhu again and Kajol from all of those Hindi films. The plot is that she doesn't believe in love and wants to go become a nun and he's trying to change her mind because he's in love with her. It would've been so easy to get this film wrong but it ends up being really hard to dislike.

Anbe Sivam (2003) a slice of life about a guy who gets stranded at an airport and makes a friend. R. Madhavan, who plays the friend is the poster boy for 90s Tamil romances and is an excellent romance actor, if you're interested.

Ghilli (2004) A sports player accidentally gets involved with a gang. It's like an action romance featuring some of the most iconic actors in Tamil film, including Vijay and Trisha. I had my cousins dance to one of the songs from this at my wedding. This movie actually just reran in theaters for it's 20 year anniversary a couple months ago.

24 (2016) A guy invents a time traveling machine. I really wanted to include a movie with Suriya because he along with Vijay are like the two big stars of the Tamil Film Industry. They both have catalogs of 60+ films. And in this movie, Suriya plays a triple role.

Malayalam. This one's my native industry which somehow made it really hard to pick movies from because I mostly watch masala films or (like low-brow action comedies).

Kireedam (1989) A action/drama about a guy's downfall. Thematically, think Othello. Stars Mohanlal, the biggest actor in Mollywood and watching him in this movie will show you why.

Killukam (1991) a comedy about a girl, an illegitimate daughter of a supreme court judge, pretending to be mentally ill while searching for her father. Very of it's time but it's classic comedy. Stars Mohanlal again.

Yoddha (1992). One of the rare times that Malayalam film delves into fantasy, this is a movie about a young rural guy protecting a Nepalese kid from a murderous, supernatural cult. It's been a minute since i've watched this so I can't speak to how the cultural aspects were treated but I remember that part of this was shot in Nepal. It's also considered a cult classic. And features Mohanlal yet again.

Aaram Thampuran (1997) Another mohanlal film about a man who gets involved in a village's affairs. Stars Manju Warrior who was a known 90s actress before she got married and quit. This one's an iconic action film but I think that Mohanlal's role in this is like the template of classic Malayalam hero and says a lot about the qualities that make up a South Indian typical movie 'good guy'.

Nandanam (2002) The fact that this movie is this old makes me feel old. A slightly dramatic, mostly realistic interclass romance ft (1) god. It'll give you a fair bit of insight into Malayali culture and class prejudices. Anyway story's about a religious house-servant who falls in love with the grandson of her employer. Or really, the grandson falls in love with her. It's a personal favorite of mine and stars Navya Nair (who is soo underrated) and Prithviraj (who is not, which is to say he's hella popular and currently trying his hand at directing)

Meesa Madhavan (2002) A thief gets wrongfully accused of a crime and tries to prove his innocence ft a romance. It's classic 2000s Malayalam comedy. Features Dileep and Kavya Madhavan who were a pretty popular pair of the 2000s/2010s even and irl had an affair and he divorced his wife for her. (his wife incidentally is manju warrior who i mentioned above)

Classmates (2006) A school reunion unearths old hurts and hidden secrets. It's got everything; mystery, angst, romance, comedy, and an iconic soundtrack.

Notebook (2006) No this has nothing to do with the iconic Nicholas Sparks adaptation. It's about three college friends at an all-girls school and how they deal with one of them getting pregnant. The initial romance is SO cute. The song, one in particular is great. The execution is so-so but for a movie about teen pregnancy in 2006 Kerala, it's not bad. And I would consider it iconic.

****** manichitrathazhu (1993) It's about a couple who move into a new house and the wife gets possessed by a ghost. It's ICONIC. I didn't mention it above because it does dip into horror and you said you didn't like scary movies.

i know this might seem super large and overwhelming. I promise I did try to limit the choices a bit and was at times more or less successful. Anyways I hope it helps some.

Wow, thank you for the explanation and for the long list of recs! Love all the different language categories. Lol! I wish I liked horror movies more, especially so you could share your favs 😆. I might try Manichitrathazhu 🫣. Maybe my friend who loves horror movies will watch it with me.

I'm looking at some of these on Google, and omg, Kabhie Kushi Kabhie Gham is 3.5 hours long 😳. I'll have to settle in with a snack for that one 😆.

These all sound really good though! Thank you for taking the time to compile this list, I highly appreciate it!

[starizzm]

╰┈➤ INTRODUCTION .𖥔 ݁ ˖ 🪐

Hello! I'm Tara but nicknames are appreciated. I'm a minor so please don't be weird. I'm Indian! I speak Hindi, English, can only read and write Sanskrit and speak a bit of Kannada and understand some Bengali.

My side blog: @taraamisu

I give people nicknames affectionately for fun so please tell me if you're not comfortable with anything. Also my humour is almost equivalent to a teenage boy's 😭 I rizz people up for fun!! ( platonically ofcourse )

Therefore, if you find me likeable then please don't be shy to send in an ask! I love making new mutuals!! ( ≧ᗜ≦) also please bear with me.. I'm a yapper and this post is going to be LONG.

INTERESTS .☘︎ ݁˖

I have many interests.. like a lot. I love all shapes and forms of art! I draw a lot but mostly with oil pastels and acrylic paint. I love painting, it's very therapeutic.

I'm a classical dancer! I do bharatnatyam but I really enjoy other styles as well.

I love love loovveee science! Mainly Physics and Biology. I love talking about the science behind little, everyday things! It's so fun. I LOVE ASTROLOGY! when I say that, I don't mean the astrological signs. I love everything about the universe, it's so beautiful! Fun fact- my name "tara" actually means "star" in sanskrit! the whole reason I chose it.

I love classic literature! I don't read much and I'm very picky about books.. but I'd love a few suggestions!

I'm not very religious but I love studying religion ( quite ironic ) religious symbolism in the simplest things makes my head explode!! Hinduism is one of my favourites. It's so fascinating once you go in-depth.

Horror movies. I LOVE horror movies. I've watched so many of them.. I've lost count.

Food. I absolutely love cooking and eating food. I've tried alot of cuisine and I love love love LOVE desserts. I have a sweet tooth.. but I live for good food.

I also like Kpop but I'm more of a casual listener than a stan.

MUSIC .☘︎ ݁˖

I love music! I don't have any specific genre I like, I listen to whatever feels nice. Here's some artists I listen to regularly-

1. Laufey

2. Cigarettes after sex

3. Mitski

4. PinkPanthress

5. TV Girl

6. Sabrina Carpenter

7. The Neighborhood

8. The Weeknd

In Kpop, I only like the groups listed below-

aespa

2. RIIZE

3. ENHYPEN

4. TXT

5. Xdinary heroes

Here's my Spotify! also, I'm open to any song suggestions.

ANIME AND MANGA ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

I've watched a lot of anime and started reading manga 2 years ago. I've been watching anime since 5th grade ( thanks to my cousin ) but there's a few I absolutely love!

1. Monster

2.Junji Ito Collection

3.Jujutsu Kaisen

4.Kimi No Todoke

5.Kurokos's Basketball

6.Blue Period

7.Blue lock

8.Oyasumi PunPun

9.Death Note

10.NANA

11. Neon Genesis Evangelion

12. Disastrous Life of Saiki K

13. Chainsaw Man

14. 19 days

TV SHOWS AND MOVIES ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

I'm not a fan of watching a lot of movies but here's my top 5-

Girl, Interrupted

2. Moxie

3. Jab we met

4. The Exorcist

5. Mean girls

6. Legally blonde

I love watching series.. I've binged ALOT but there's very few I liked-

1. The Big Bang Theory

2. How I Met Your Mother

3. Modern Family

4. Fresh off the boat!

5. Brooklyn 99

6. The Office

7. Gilmore Girls

8. Girl meets World

🚀 Extra: I also like genshin impact, HSR, wuwa and alien stage!!

╰┈➤ That's all about me! I fear I may have yapped a bit too much.. but since you read till the end, here's a cat image for your effort.

[muffinlance]

I've been arguing with myself for some time whether to ask you this.... This year's (2023) Book Riot Read Harder challenge includes a challenge to "Read one of your favorite author's favorite books." Since you are one of my favorite authors, would you be willing to share with the internet some of your favorite books, please? (I also plan to ask haicrescendo, so don't be alarmed if you see this on their feed, please.)

Have a selection!

Childhood Favorites:

Raptor Red: Utah raptors living their best lives <3

Christopher Pike's The Last Vampire: baby's first introduction to Indian mythology AND baby's first introduction to "how to launch things into orbit, a don't-try-this-at-home primer". Which is a lot for a short YA vampire novel to accomplish, and that's just in the first book. (Remember Me and Witch are my other favs from that author).

The Last Whales: human-made apocalypse from the perspective of whales. You know, some light childhood reading.

Dune: who doesn't like giant sand worms? With bonus Litany Against Fear.

Collegehood:

Watership Down: bunnies and mythology and bunny wars with and without mythology

Sandman: Goth!Death is best Death. The Fiddler's Green's last moments live in my head forever. Boring people with their rich internal lives go brrr. Did they do the Cuckoo storyline in the show? Did they do it good?

The Black Cauldron: classic childhood trauma read

Recenthood:

Middlegame: oh boy oh BOY do I like novel takes on time travel magic via math and wordplay

The Ballad of Black Tom: sure you can summon a world-devouring eldritch horror <3 as a treat <3 (Lone Women by the same author is also deLIGHTful)

A Deadly Education (and its associated trilogy): angry death mage tries angry-hard not to be an angry death mage. Simultaneously succeeds and fails, in equally fantastic ways. (Spinning Silver by the same author is also Very Yes.)

Murderbot: Murderbot Murderbot Murderbot

[haveyoureadthispoll]

The creeping horror of Paul Tremblay meets Tommy Orange’s There There in a dark novel of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones. Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, The Only Good Indians follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.

[theomenmedia]

New BTS Footage From Tumbbad

Dive back into the horror with unseen footage from #Tumbbad! The cult classic that's scarier than ever.

Link to the full story: https://www.theomenmedia.com/post/tumbbad-s-return-a-horror-classic-s-rebirth-with-never-before-seen-frights

[gorelesbian]

Hello, I am so sick of Stephen king as well and would love some book recs. I’m interested in themes of grief, body horror, and love creatures of all kinds.

things have gotten worse since we last spoke by eric larocca is a disgustingly fascinating story about two lonely women who meet online and start an obsessive and dark relationship through email and chat. the body horror (human, animal and infants) is severe in this one so beware!

the only good indians by stephen graham jones is about four men who are being hunted down by a creature/entity from their past who is looking for revenge and it gets gruesome.

this thing between us by gus moreno is about thiago who is trying to cope with his wife being killed while he's also dealing with his alexa being haunted. that description is an injustice, but revealing any more would also be an injustice. it goes places impossible to predict while also exploring thiago's crippling grief.

a monster calls by patrick ness is not horror but one of my favourite books because of it's incredible exploration of grief. it's about a young boy whose mother is dying of cancer and how it affects him, while a monster starts showing up at his bedroom window at night.

if you like manga ; anything by junji ito is overflowing with body horror. uzumaki is still my favourite by him, it's a classic for a reason!

[yingyue-draws]

My incredibox OCs assemble! Here's their profile:

Vox Huffer

Age: 18

Bday:18/8

Height:170cm

weight: 59kg

Personality: Smart and Gentle, but he can also be funny sometimes

Occupation: Student

Likes:

Books, Music, teatime

Dislikes:

Violence, caught cold, flies

About:

Vox is the youngest child in his family of his older brother, Val, and his twin older sister, Vicky. Vox has liked anything about literature since he was small. His dream job is to become a writer in the future.

Chip Parker

Age: 15

Bday:14/6

Height: 157cm

Weight: 54kg

Personality: Bright, Active, as naughty as a kid

Occupation: Student

Likes:

music remix, video games, Indian music, hamster, sports

Dislikes:

bell peppers, math, exams

About:

Chip Parker is Vox’s childhood friend and BFF in Vox’s school. He is also Vox’s neighbor. Sometimes he will go to Vox’s home and playvideo games with him. Vox sometimes goes to his house and helps with his homework.

Bam Li Dong–Sun

Age:17

Bday: 18/6

Height: 160cm

Weight: 54kg

Personality: Rash, and impatient, but he can be kind to his granny

Occupation: Student

Likes:

Kimchi and Tteik-bokki made by his granny, Horror movies, sports

Dislike:

Tested by Chip, making his granny worried, romantic movies

About:

Bam Li is one of the members of Vox's football team. His house is in front of Vox’s and he he will go to his house and practice football with him.

Dee Smith

Age:18

Bday: 17/8

Height: 175 cm

Weight: 59kg

Personality: Gentle, mellow, but sometimes he will be a bit presumptuous and forgetful

Occupation: Student

Likes:

Classical music, Red tea, books

Dislikes:

Beers, noisy, mosquito

About:

Dee Smith is living in the same household with Bam Li. And he is one of Vox’s BFFs, just like Chip! Since he and Vox almost have the same interests, they always met together and chatted about music and books.

(Sorry for writing Bam's bio too short because I don't know what to write about them rn...)

I hope you like them! Next time will introduce Vox 's brother and sister and Vox and Chip's gf:)

[1eos]

May I have some lovely book recommendations on this day <3 😁😁 I'm trying to read more this next year

you sure can!!!!! i'll list my fave reads of the past few years:

convenience store woman by sayaka murata -one of my fave books of all timeeeeee. its basically about a woman who just doesnt fit in into 'normal' society and even tho she's happy ppl feel like she shouldnt be bc she's not progressing w everyone else. if you've been the weird girl ever this book will

ring shout - p djeli clark. a historical fiction novel where the kkk are like demons and theres this organization of black hunters. its action packed but what makes it so amazing is the emotional growth of the characters :') an all time fave

the vanishing half - brit bennett. another AMAZING historical fiction book. its abt family lines....and colorism and twins and what it means to be white passing and privilege and generational trauma. it honestly has toni morrison core vibes where there's a lot of pain but thru love all is healed!

there's no such thing as an easy job by kikuko tsumura. a bit of an eclectic read. this woman takes on different jobs and they each give her grief in a new way. very relatable esp if you hate your job 😭

the vegetarian by han kang. THEE GOAT. i will recc this book until the day i DIE. and even then. its technically a horror story abt the fallout after a woman has a dream/vision and decides to stop eating meat but its sooo much deeper than that. its such a great look at how, as a woman, everything abt you is subject to critique down to what you eat

parasite eve. thee classic scifi horror the video game was inspired by! think frankenstein but there's a love story underneath. but also you question if it was love at all bc what if the mitochrondria inside of us are just manipulating everything we do? i loved it! writing style is a bit clinical but idc

my sister the serial killer by oyinkan braithwaite...i read this one in a single day it was THAT GOOD. sister is a serial killer and the fucking implications and fucked up shit that comes from lookism and family expectations and misogyny tbh. love it~

annihilation by jeff vandermeer. the first in a series but you can just read the first one. its sooooooooooooooooooo good. its a scifi book about this mysterious barrier off the coast that's slowly expanding and inside nature is reclaiming its space and most everyone that enters the barrier never returns.....another quick read bc it will have you HOOKED

yellowface by r f kuang. i don't usually enjoy satire but r f kuang really TOOK IT THERE. this is the most infuriating book you'll ever read but in the best way. this white author w an inferiority complex objectifies her friend that she secretly hates and then steals her friend's book. only thing is the friend is proudly asian and her book is abt specific cultural history so the white girl does diet yellowface and is just a massive bitch

beloved by toni morrison. how do you sum up beloved? i cannot sum up beloved. if i had to sum up beloved i would say 'love is a haunting but not every haunting is love and the only thing that can clear a haunting is love'

in the dream house by carmen maria machado. god probably the best prose i've read all year. a really beautiful but bittersweet autobiographical novel about a bisexual woman's experience with a fucked up abusive relationship and how subtle abuse can be. heavy subject matter but handled soooo beautifully.

the only good indians by stephen graham jones. WHEW. this is a horror......and this book will take you for a fucking ride i'll tell you that. its abt a group of native american men who were childhood friends and due to one mistake they're all haunted by...something that wants to get revenge on them. this book had me going 'DID THAT JUST HAPPEN?' multiple times