On the Ninth Day – The Dorm That Dripped Blood Just Barely Earns a Passing Grade

During the ‘Golden Era’ of 80s slashers there were the recognizable A-listers – Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Child’s Play. And then there were the B-list slashers that gain deserved cult status like The Burning or My Bloody Valentine. Last but not least, the subgenre produced more than a handful of […]

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Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Decent Slasher, So-So Texas Chainsaw Sequel

Here we go, again. When Halloween found success going back to basics, it was only a matter of time before other horror franchises followed. Technically, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre already went this route. Before we were calling them legacy sequels or ‘re-quels’, the awful Texas Chainsaw 3D positioned itself as a direct follow-up to the […]

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On the Eighth Day of Christmas: P2 Parked at About the Same Level of Fear

On paper, 2007 horror thriller P2 had a lot going for it. Both its premise and setting promised a nail-biting game of cat-and-mouse. Director Franck Kahlfoun came into the movie – his feature length debut – with lots of promise, And Kahlfoun would go on to direct the very disturbing Maniac remake. Writer and producer […]

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The Ranger Invites Horror Fans to The Woods

Indie horror movie The Ranger generated some low-key positive buzz in 2018. A fun retro-trailer that harkened to old school PSA’s undoubtedly helped. Critics also seemed mildly impressed with The Ranger when it debuted at SXSW. Of course, ‘lost in the woods’ horror movies are a familiar genre staple. But The Ranger promises a refreshing […]

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Blood Quantum: Indigenous Zombie Movie Finds Life in the Subgenre

If horror fans are getting tired of zombie movies, Hollywood and indie filmmakers haven’t noticed. Even with The Walking Dead declining in the ratings, we’ve still seen a steady influx of undead horror. Overlord and Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die are the most recent zombie theatrical releases. Meanwhile Netflix has streamed several recent zombie […]

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Laid to Rest: Low-Budget Slasher Carves Out Brutal Niche

Following the slasher ‘Golden Age’ of the 1980’s, Wes Craven’s Scream re-ignited a brief a slasher-lite renaissance. However, this brief resurgence produced a handful of polished, teen-friendly PG-13 horror that lacked Craven’s insight. Several years later, slasher movies returned, taking one of two approaches. In some cases, movies like Final Girls, Cabin in the Woods, […]

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Do You Want to Play A Game? Ranking The Saw Franchise

Somewhere in between ‘masked slashers’ and ‘insidious conjurings’, torture porn briefly reigned in horror. From Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects to Eli Roth’s Hostel and the ‘New French Extremity‘ movement, horror fans flocked to movies characterized by extreme graphic violence. However, it all started with James Wan’s Saw in 2004. The low-budget movie kickstarted a […]

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The Furies: A ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Slasher

For horror fans disappointed with Netflix’s catalog, Shudder is your streaming alternative. In addition to a pretty impressive collection of 70’s and 80’s horror, Shudder platforms quite a bit of indie horror. Currently, Oz-ploitation flick, The Furies, is available for fans of more brutal, straightforward fare. This Down Under thriller promises a mix of slasher, […]

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