You’d be forgiven if you thought The Invitation was another quiet attempt at re-booting a ‘Dark Universe’ of classic monsters. The premise sounds like a contemporary spin on a ‘Brides of Dracula’ concept complete with its Gothic British manor setting. But this is a Sony Pictures release, not Universal Pictures, so if there’s vampires no […]
Over 10 years later, Neil LaBute is still probably apologizing for his remake of The Wicker Man. Now he’s back in the horror genre – including some intentional dark comedy – with the ‘date gone wrong’ House of Darkness. Before The Wicker Man, LaBute has explored themes of misogyny, which looks pretty central to House […]
After Netflix released Texas Chainsaw Massacre in February, the streaming platform has largely ignored horror in 2022. But as summer winds down, Netflix decides to go big or go home with its vampire action-comedy-horror hybrid, Day Shift. On paper, a cool vampire movie starring Jamie Foxx and Snoop Dogg should be gold. And based on […]
Few better ‘gateway’ horror movies exist than The Lost Boys. By ‘gateway horror’, of course, The Lost Boys was the perfect introduction to horror for early teens. It’s also a nearly perfect time capsule, warts and all, for the decade in which it was released. From its ‘Brat Pack’ casting to its MTV rock-infused soundtrack, […]
Nearly a decade has passed since horror anthology V/H/S saw a limited theatrical release. Both its unique wraparound story and roster of up-and-coming directors set the anthology movie apart. In spite of tepid reviews, V/H/S generated enough box office receipts and audience buzz to warrant two sequels and a spin-off. That first sequel, V/H/S 2, […]
Today, prestige (or elevated) horror is synonymous with A24 (Green Knight, Midsommar, Saint Maud). When someone mentions an A24 horror movie, we think of quiet, understated psychological horror. But in the 1990s, Interview with the Vampire was prestige horror. And horror didn’t get any bigger than Neil Jordan’s adaptation of Anne Rice’s best-selling novel. With […]
Over the last decade, Mike Flanagan has assembled an impressive horror résumé. Alongside James Wan (Malignant, Saw), he’ll likely find his name mentioned next to all-time greats like Carpenter and Craven. He’s moved from small thrillers (Oculus, Hush) to big-screen scares (Ouija: Origin of Evil) to marque Stephen King adaptations (Doctor Sleep). Both his Netflix […]
For the fourth straight week, Netflix premieres a new horror movie on Friday. And it’s not some throwaway movie dug up from several years past. On the heels of the Fear Street trilogy, Blood Red Sky queues up on Netflix’s runway with a vampire battling hijackers on a plane. It’s been awhile since horror fans […]