Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (dir. William Beaudine, 1952) Bela Lugosi, born on this date in 1882, had a tumultuous life. A stage actor in his native Hungary and veteran of the First World War, he fled the country after the failed Communist revolution, settling first in Germany and then America. He found success … Continue reading Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952)

Diary of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 2007) Survival of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 2009) After his post-apocalyptic film Land of the Dead, George Romero returned to the beginnings of the zombie outbreak with the final two films of the series, set now in the 2000s. The series has always had a … Continue reading Diary of the Dead (2007) & Survival of the Dead (2009)

Land of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 2005) Not to be the guy who tells you about something he read in The New Yorker, but do you remember that article in the magazine about how multi-millionaires and billionaires are buying bunkers and survivalist compounds in preparation for someone future civilizational collapse? “Doomsday Prep for … Continue reading Land of the Dead (2005)

Lost Highway (dir. David Lynch, 1997) Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) is a jazz musician who think his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) is unfaithful. One morning a voice over the intercom of their home informs him that “Dick Laurent is dead.” They then begin receiving video tapes showing footage of their home. At a party, Fred … Continue reading Lost Highway (1997)

The Devils (dir. Ken Russell, 1971) There was a series of supposed demonic possessions at a Ursuline convent in Loudun, France in 1634. The church performed public exorcism, engaged in torture, and found guilty a local priest named Urbain Grandier for witchcraft. He was burned at the stake for this crime. The prevailing historical opinion … Continue reading The Devils (1971)

Only Lovers Left Alive (dir. Jim Jarmusch, 2013) Only Lovers Left Alive has vampires as its protagonists, but I struggle to call the film horror except perhaps in the way that anything can be a horror story. While they are unaging, Adam and Eve are burdened with challenges that any human being can relate to. … Continue reading Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)

Nosferatu (dir. F. W. Murnau, 1922) Nosferatu the Vampyre (dir. Werner Herzog, 1979) Shadow of the Vampire (dir. E. Elias Merhige, 2000) The German director F. W. Murnau began production on a vampire film for Albin Grau’s studio Prana Films in 1921. It was from a screenplay by Austrian screenwriter Henrik Galeen who had “freely … Continue reading Nosferatu (1922), Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979), & Shadow of the Vampire (2000)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (dir. Robert Wiene, 1920) I don’t speak German, I possess an uneven knowledge of European history, I have never attended any film theory classes, but I have seen the music video for Rob Zombie’s “Living Dead Girl,” and that is all qualification I need to discuss The Cabinet of Dr. … Continue reading The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (dir. David Lynch, 1992) Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (dir. David Lynch, 2014) Twin Peaks is a multimedia property consisting of 30 television episodes across two seasons in 1990 and 1991; an 18 episode revival series in 2017; six tie-in books whose subjects range from the diary of Laura … Continue reading Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) & Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces (2014)

Twixt (dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 2011) Francis Ford Coppola shouldn’t need any introduction, but I’m going to give one anyway. Coppola got his start in cinema as a graduate student at UCLA, where he made a short film based on the Edgar Allan Poe story, “William Wilson.” He fell in with Roger Corman, working for … Continue reading Twixt (2011)