This past weekend marked the birthdays of not one, but three icons of the horror genre. Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, and Vincent Price would have all celebrated birthdays over the last weekend of May. Throughout the 1950’s to the late 1970’s, all three performers defined the horror genre with their various roles. They are horror […]
Super Dark Times received a lot of buzz on horror critics’ ‘end-of-year’ lists. Less a horror film and more of a psychological character study, Super Dark Times marks the directorial debut of Kevin Phillips and certainly highlights him as a filmmaker to watch in the future. Available now on Netflix, Super Dark Times has been […]
Following the slasher-lite renaissance that capitalized on the success of Wes Craven’s Scream, major studios soon opted to re-visit the ‘Golden Era’ of the slasher. The 2000’s witnessed major and minor titles alike get the remake treatment. Unfortunately, studio executives forgot about the ‘slashing’ part in their zeal to corner the youth market. This was exactly […]
Summer is in full swing and while the black flies have receded, mosquitoes are in full swarm. This week marked the anniversary of the classic The Fly and, on this day in 2002, the nostalgic ‘giant insect’ film Eight-Legged Freaks was released. To mark these horror moments, in this edition of The Chopping Block, I’ll […]
Universal Studios and their Gothic supernatural monsters dominated the horror genre for two decades. Following World War II and the dawn of the atomic age, horror films looked to the skies or science for frights. Science fiction and horror formed a mutually beneficial relationship across drive-in theatres in North America during the 1950’s. One of […]
It’s been nearly 20 years since M. Night Shyamalan burst onto the scene with The Sixth Sense. For a directorial debut it doesn’t get much better than this finale jaw-dropping effort. His follow-up, Unbreakable, was an understated gem. A few cracks began to show with the still decent Signs. Audiences and critics alike though thought Shyamalan […]
Today, horror fans are pretty familiar with the concept of the ‘Final Girl’. Following Wes Craven’s post-modern Scream , slasher films have only gotten more meta In fact, horror movies now openly acknowledge the ‘Final Girl’ trope. Little seen and underrated Cherry Falls flipped the convention by having its killer targeting virgins. Cult classic Behind the […]
From Wolf Creek to The Bababdook, Australia has delivered some great horror imports over the years. Just last year, the gritty Hounds of Love and the supernatural-themed Boys in The Trees garnered some critical praise for ‘Down Under’ filmmakers. Later this month, Cinema Management Group (CMG) will be distributing the creepy looking Aussie horror offering, […]