Silent Night, Deadly Night: Ho Ho … Hold the Controversy

November 14, 2018.Reading time 9 minutes.

Silent Night, Deadly Night boasts a history shared by few ’80’s horror films. Arguably its infamy far outreaches its quality. At its best, Silent Night, Deadly Night is a sleazy B-movie that hits the ‘so bad, it’s good’ switch. Many horror fans may just consider it plain bad. But when this Christmas chiller was released […]

Mandy Mesmerizes With Dreamy Visuals and a Wild-Eyed Nicolas Cage

September 14, 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

Italian-Canadian film director Panos Cosmatos waited awhile before following up his debut feature, Beyond the Black Rainbow. Based on the buzz his latest release, Mandy, generated at the Sundance Film Festival, it was worth the wait. Considered a mix of surrealist horror and action, Mandy has steadily built anticipation based on its trailers and word-of-mouth. […]

Revenge Spins An Exploitation Subgenre on Its Head

May 23, 2018.Reading time 7 minutes.

The rape-revenge thriller has a controversial place within the larger horror genre. Films like The Last House on the Left and I Spit On Your Grave courted controversy way back in the 1970’s. While both of these films have been remade in the last decade, critical attention on sexual violence in media has only intensified. […]

Downrange: Survival Horror That Goes for the Jugular

May 3, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

The term ‘downrange’ is a military term referring to a combat zone. It’s an apt title for the Ryuhei Kitamura horror-thriller that merges survival horror with slasher film sensibilities. Downrange debuted last September at the Midnight Madness event of the Toronto International Film Festival. Earlier this week, the horror-streaming platform, Shudder, made Downrange available for […]

Hellbilly Rob Zombie – His Films Ranked From Worst to First

April 22, 2018.Reading time 8 minutes.

With all the news trickling in about the upcoming sequel to The Devil’s Rejects, 3 From Hell, it’s a good time to re-visit Rob Zombie’s filmography. Admittedly, I have been a huge fan of Zombie’s music from his days with White Zombie. Both Astro-Creep 2000 and Hellbilly Deluxe remain among some of my favourite albums. Given his […]

Cabin Fever: The Remake You Didn’t Know Existed

February 7, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

While scrolling through Netflix recently for a late-night horror fix I discovered the Cabin Fever (2016) remake. It’s a film that flew completely under my radar. Rather than watching the remake first I decided to pull out my copy of the original Cabin Fever. It’s been sixteen years since Eli Roth emerged on the horror scene. His […]