In the late 1980s and early 1990s, safe psychological thrillers had mostly supplanted the edgier resurgence of neo-noir. Thrillers like Pacific Heights, Sleeping With The Enemy, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle were suspenseful star-laden affairs that were tailormade for wide theatrical releases. None of the chills were likely to disturb mainstream audiences and […]
Read More
No, the Child’s Play franchise isn’t as successful as Friday the 13th, Halloween, or A Nightmare on Elm Street. Yet its history might be more interesting. And Don Mancini’s creation has shown remarkable longevity. Following a ‘so so’ remake, Mancini got a new series off the ground last year that’s actually pretty damn good. With […]
Read More
Several months before The X-Files debuted on television, Fire in the Sky invaded movie theaters hoping to exploit tabloid interest in alien abductions. Promotional materials boasted its ‘based on a true’ premise and promised a frightening abduction scene. In addition, the cast included plenty of recognizable faces including a rising star in DB Sweeney. Despite […]
Read More
A handful of Stephen King adaptations from the 1990s are quite good – The Shawshank Redemption and Misery remains classics. Despite its lack of impact, Needful Things is also much better than its reputation suggests. Not surprisingly, there’s a few dreadful cinematic works based on King’s work from the flannel decade. Graveyard Shift, The Lawnmower […]
Read More
Nature hates us. Look no further than the slew of killer animal movies for proof. Throw in movies about killer, mutated insects for good measure. Since the 1970s eco-horror and ‘when animals attack’ thrillers have become their own subgenre. Sometimes the animals or bugs make sense. Sharks and spiders are inherently terrifying. Yes, grizzly bears […]
Read More
Sometimes good movies just find their audience. Such is the case with the 1997 independent Canadian sci-fi/horror hybrid, Cube. After Cube screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, it only saw a marginal theatrical release. But late-night showings on cable television and VHS gave this Kafkaesque thriller a much-deserved second chance. Followed by two so-so […]
Read More
No amount of nostalgia can change the fact that horror hit a low point in the first half of the decade. Technically, Silence of the Lambs mixed crime drama, suspense, and horror elements. Major horror franchises – including Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street – were running on fumes. Aside from the […]
Read More
By and large, if Stephen King has written it, Hollywood has filmed it. From his major works (The Stand, It) to minor short stories (Children of the Corn, Graveyard Shift), studios have left no stone unturned in adapting the Master of Horror’s visions. When studios didn’t want to bankroll a major theatrical release, they could […]
Read More