If there is one thing I am known for, it is that I am constantly talking about my beloved Pittsburgh. Even when my friends would prefer I stop, I promise you, I will never shut up about Pittsburgh. It is only natural that I would take up a particular fixation on and fascination with the cinema of Pittsburgh. Disregarding the present-day tax incentives that draw filmmakers here to shoot their projects, I am much more interested in the home-grown aspect of Pittsburgh’s film(making) culture. Thus, in honor and anticipation of Halloween, I humbly offer yinz a selection of Pittsburgh horror film recommendations.
First and foremost, we must start with the classics. George Romero is THE Pittsburgh filmmaker, so I’m recommending the first two dead films from George Romero.
Night of the Living Dead (George Romero, 1968) is the movie that inexplicably scared me so much at the age of 13 that my family had to watch something else that night, and honestly, I never got the grief for that which I deserved.
Watch on Tubi!
Dawn of the Dead (George Romero, 1978) is my personal favorite of the first three. It Takes place in Monroeville Mall, where I have many cherished childhood memories of going for mall walks with my grandfather when my sister and I would stay with him every summer. It was not the first movie I saw knowing it was filmed in Pittsburgh (that was probably the Dark Knight Rises), but it was the first movie that filled me with joy at seeing Pittsburgh onscreen.
Watch on archive.org! (or hit me up for a download link with commentary)
Effects (Dusty Nelson, 1979) They’re making a movie, but people are dying for real! Voyeurism, the mythical snuff film, special effects, and dirtbag stoner Tom Savini in the woods of Western Pennsylvania.
Watch on Tubi!
The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes (Stan Brakhage, 1971)
Part of the Pittsburgh Trilogy, a trilogy of experimental short films Brakhage made in Pittsburgh about city institutions in 1971. While Eyes and Deus Ex are about the Pittsburgh Police and hospitals, respectively, The Act of Seeing with One’s Own Eyes documents an autopsy at a morgue in Pittsburgh.
Watch on vimeo.
Bloodsucking Pharaohs in Pittsburgh (Dean Tschetter, 1991)
Killer effects, some delightful gags, a wonderful recurring establishing shot of the Doughboy statue in Lawrenceville, good jokes at the expense of cop, but most of all – I fucking WISH there was actually an Egypt town in Pittsburgh.
Watch on youtube.
August Underground (Fred Vogel, 2001)
Jackass for serial killers. It's exceptionally gruesome, but I Cannot emphasize enough the carnival joy that permeates this film. I wrote about it last month!
Watch on archive.org.
A Feast of Flesh (Mike Watt, 2007)
A secretive bordello, sapphic vampires, random guy with an Irish (?) accent, a Desperate Housewives joke, + features the only South Side bar I’ve been to.
Watch or download here!
11 October 2022