1996’s Scream was a game-changer for the slasher genre. By playing with well-established conventions, the movie directly engaged the audience in a conversation about what they were watching and toyed with their expectations. This self-aware approach rejuvenated the slasher for critics and public alike, summoning a tidal wave of copycat films. This meta approach became
Tag: American Horror
Oh, the level of alleged and legitimate prestige Dreamcatcher boasts – directed and co-scripted by Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat) with the help of William Goldman (Marathon Man) from a novel by Stephen King and featuring Morgan Freeman, Thomas Jane, Damian Lewis, Timothy Olyphant and Jason Lee. The early aughts were a glorious time to be
What constitutes a slasher, and how is a particular slasher franchise defined in an identity? Whilst Netflix’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a continuation of the very original, as Halloween (2018) was to that respective franchise (modern trend or ‘homage’?), it is undoubtedly having an identity crisis in that it has none of the spirit behind
Keepsake! is a 2019 American gore horror short, written and directed by Nathan Hine. The short was produced by Hardgore Core Productions, known for their low-budget splatter productions such as The Last Days of Livermore (2018) as well as their video reviews of notorious entries to extreme cinema via their YouTube channel. When a man
Just the facts ma’am. Or so one might expect the detective keeping vigil outside of the house in a rumpled raincoat to ask. He chews on his obligatory cigar and sips at his obligatory coffee that we will presume has gone cold. Nothing that the Lutz family does, whether it be George chopping firewood on
As a young girl who grew up stuffing my barbies into a toy replica of the monster truck Big Foot, Monster Man screamed out to me. What’s not to love about a couple of dudes getting chased down the highway by a giant monster truck with a coffin-shaped cab that feels straight out of Mad Max? After
Hereditary shook up the horror community upon its release. The slow-burn torment of being forced to watch a family slowly go mad as tragedies are inflicted upon them, helped to sear the film into viewers’ minds. The ending, with its last-minute reveal of the antagonist, left audiences unsettled, disgusted, and mortified, having been witness to
In a previous article of mine, I mentioned the creation of found footage and incorrectly attributed this title to Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick’s The Blair Witch Project (1999). Although it is true that The Blair Witch Project thrust the genre into the mainstream limelight, there were actually a number of entries to genre much
For the long-awaited conclusion to the Gwendy trilogy, Stephen King and Richard Chizmar reach the final frontier of “don’t push that button!!” horror to bring us the last installment of The Gwendy’s Button Box Trilogy. These books are well-known for being close to the heart for many, as the previous two novels take place largely in
True love is forever… and for some it even transcends death! While that might sound romantic, horror fans know better. For this profoundly disturbing Valentine’s Day read, we have compiled a list of movies featuring love of the “not so living” kind! ***Warning: Many of the films on this list are considered extreme cinema and