Where Horror Lives
Last week, Universal Pictures opted to cancel the release of its satirical horror movie, The Hunt. The movie’s premise, an adaptation of Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, saw rich elites hunting a group of ‘deplorables’ for sport. Obviously, the movie was a thinly veiled swipe at Trump and his supporters. But two mass shootings […]
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New killer alligator movie, Crawl, hits theatres today. Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Drag Me to Hell) produces and Alexandre Aja (High Tension) directs the genre-blending horror flick. And much to probably everyone’s surprise, critics seems to really like it. Maybe that’s because we all know that alligators and crocodiles are damn scary. They’re basically living […]
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With nearly $650 million dollars in box office receipts, The Conjuring Universe is an unqualified success. Outside of Marvel, James Wan and company have accomplished something pretty noteworthy. The fact that this is a horror universe just makes its success even sweeter for genre fans. Yes, critical reaction to the movies as varied widely, the […]
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Are we already halfway through June? Time flies by for horror fans when you’re coasting through another good year for the genre. In 2019, we’ve seen a horror movie defy the “January Jinx”. We’ve already gotten Jordan Peele’s follow-up to Get Out, and we still have It: Chapter Two and Midsommar to look forward to. […]
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What scares you? The best horror movies exploit our most basic fears. Home invasion movies, for example, undermine our sense of security in the place we should feel the safest. Killer bug movies understand that most people hate ‘creepy crawlies’. And sharks – they’re basically freight trains with teeth. But some people have strange fears. […]
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Happy Father’s Day! It’s time to wrap that tie or finish painting the clever “Dad Rocks” on a rock. Today, we celebrate all those hardworking fathers who threaten to ‘turn this car around right now’ and play catch with you in the backyard. For this edition of The Chopping Block, I take a look at […]
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Eli Roth is one of the more divisive filmmakers in the horror genre today. Though his filmography is relatively small, Roth has had his hand in numerous projects, including AMC’s recent Eli Roth’s History of Horror. In the early 2000’s, Roth emerged alongside filmmakers noted for pushing the envelope of onscreen violence including Rob Zombie […]
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Regardless of its critical reception, Friday the 13th is one of the most influential horror movies produced. While ‘Camp Blood’ didn’t create the slasher subgenre, it certainly crystallized the distinctly 80’s approach to horror. Sequels and remakes spanning three decades, cross-over media, a video game, and fan-made movies – few horror franchises can claim this […]
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Sequels are going to happen. And not just to good horror movies. Yes, there’s Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Halloween – good horror movies that produced successful franchises. But even mediocre, and sometimes, bad horror movies beget neverending repeats. Did the world really need follow-ups to Children of the Corn or […]
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Blumhouse Productions rules horror today. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Universal Studios reigned with their monster lineup. But from mid-1950’s to the early 1970’s, Hammer Film Productions dominated the horror genre. The British studio made international stars of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. While Hammer Films rolled out dozens of Gothic horror titles, it was […]
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