I have a tendency to watch two unrelated movies together as a double feature. Similar in feel, probably made around the same time, maybe a common actor to both, but not technically related. That means different directors, not sequels, and not part of the same in-story universe. I’m more into horror and sci-fi, but any genre is welcome. (Romance, teen comedy, mystery, western, war, mafia, whatever.)
I was originally thinking about lesser known titles as opposed to award nominees, blockbusters and classics, but I don’t see any reason to exclude the greats. Alien + The Thing, for example, would be a fantastic double feature. A bit over the pay grade I was envisioning, but it’s all good. The main ingredient in a good double feature is that both movies should be on par with each other. Both cheesy is fine, both great fine too, but not one cheesy and one great. I’ll start it off with the double feature I watched tonight to give you an idea of what I’m going for:
Cooties (2014) / Mom and Dad (2017)
Cooties has a great 2010s cast: Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson, Jack McBrayer, et al. Elementary school students go all rage virus and the teachers have to try and survive. Mom and Dad is the opposite premise, headlined by Nicolas Cage and Selma Blair. You know the stories about how a mom lifts a car off her child because the parental instinct is so strong? What if that instinct were suddenly reversed, and parents were driven to that kind of extreme but with murderous intent?
In The Mouth of Madness (1994) / Event Horizon (1997)
I think of these as “mind horror” as opposed to body horror. I mean, they both feature some body horror, but that’s not the centerpiece like in Videodrome or Existenz. These are more focused on the loss of sanity. “I’m losing me!” is still to this day one of my all-time favorite lines. I rewatched both as a double feature just a few weeks ago after not having seen either in decades, and wondered how they would hold up. They both held up remarkably well, though I still felt that 'Madness is clearly superior, same as I thought back in the 90s.
Feast (2005) / Splinter (2008)
Both are creature features with little critters. Feast is “famous” for being one of the Project Greenlight movies, and plays up the campy comedy factor. Splinter has a much more serious tone but fairly similar creature. Shea Whigham is a treasure. (Also a fan of his daughter Giorgia, who I first noticed in The Orville and then enjoyed on Netflix’s The Punisher season 2.) I haven’t actually watched these two together as a double feature yet, but I might this weekend if I can find them on streaming services I already have.
Mine Games (2012) / Don’t Blink (2014)
These aren’t particularly similar, but wound up in heavy cable rotation at the same time so I watched them as a double feature multiple times. Mine Games is one of my favorite time loop movies, so it would seem to be a better match with Triangle (2009), but Triangle is legitimately good. Don’t Blink has a fun premise, and while it’s not total crap, it’s not “good.” Put it this way: it is elevated by the presence of Brian Austin Greene. (In fairness, I loved him in The Sarah Connor Chronicles.)
I have a million of these, but that’s enough to give an idea of what I’m going for. I’ll post more if the thread gains any traction.