Eraserhead (dir. David Lynch, 1977) Every David Lynch film contains elements of horror even if they are not necessarily proper entries in the genre. The Elephant Man is a touching biographical drama about Joseph Merrick, but it’s often filmed and lit like a horror film. What are the third-stage Guild Navigator or the pustules caking … Continue reading Eraserhead (1977)

Retro Puppet Master (dir. David DeCoteau, 1999) I have never seen an entry in the Puppet Master franchise before this one and have only vague knowledge of it as a property. This shouldn’t be a problem, however, as this is chronologically the first entry in the series, taking place in 1902, aside from scenes in … Continue reading Retro Puppet Master (1999)

Vampire’s Kiss (dir. Robert Bierman, 1989) American Psycho (dir. Mary Harron, 2000)   It’s an eighties yuppie psychosis double feature! They’ve got it all: Brooks Brothers suits! Condomless sex! Hyper-specific Manhattan geography! Toxic masculinity! Coke and pills! Ronald Reagan! Murder! Vampire’s Kiss stars Nicolas Cage in what his reportedly his favorite role of his career … Continue reading Vampire’s Kiss (1989) & American Psycho (2000)

Tucker and Dale vs Evil (dir. Eli Craig, 2010) The Cabin in the Woods (dir. Drew Goddard, 2012) Can two films be considered dueling movies if they were released years apart? This is the conundrum presented by these two features that play on the cliche of college kids finding horror while inexplicably choosing old growth … Continue reading Tucker and Dale vs Evil (2010) & The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Day of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 1985) At what point in an apocalyptic scenario do you give up? I know I’d do it early. You might think I’d be like Burgess Meredith in that episode of The Twilight Zone with time enough at last to read all the great works, but I’ve had … Continue reading Day of the Dead (1985)

Dawn of the Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 1978) I can speak with some authority about shopping malls because not only have I been in one of these fabled places, these bygone ruins of an age before Bezos become the god of commerce, I have also read a book about Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project. Not … Continue reading Dawn of the Dead (1978)

Night of the Living Dead (dir. George A. Romero, 1968) I want to talk about Johnny. You know, the soon-to-be-dead man at the start of Night of the Living Dead. In his roughly five minutes of screentime, Johnny received a surprising amount of characterization. He and his sister Barbra are visiting their father’s grave in … Continue reading Night of the Living Dead (1968)

Society (dir. Brian Yuzna, 1989) There’s a line in William Gibson’s 1986 cyberpunk novel Count Zero: “And, for an instant, she stared directly into those soft blue eyes and knew, with an instinctive mammalian certainty, that the exceedingly rich were no longer even remotely human.” It’s overwritten, but Gibson’s not wrong. This sentiment would be … Continue reading Society (1989)

Terrifier (dir. Damien Leone, 2017) Do you remember those few months of 2016 when America was besieged by evil clowns? It began in August of that year when a boy in Greenville, South Carolina, reported a pair of clowns trying to lure him into the woods, and then spread like a disease from there. By … Continue reading Terrifier (2017)

Hardware (dir. Richard Stanley, 1990) An initially uncredited adaptation of a story published the venerable British comics magazine 2000 AD, Hardware is a post-apocalyptic science fiction/horror hybrid about a scavenged robot wreaking havoc on the inhabitants of an apartment complex. Dylan McDermott, who I feel obliged to mention I have never once had trouble differentiating … Continue reading Hardware (1990)