Horror

The Exceptional Horror of “Hereditary”

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Ari Aster’s Hereditary opens simply: the white letters of Ellen Graham’s obituary blazing on a inky background. The matriarch is survived by her daughter Annie, an artist who creates miniature dioramas of her everyday life. We see one of her miniatures now: a cut-out model of her home in the forest. As we zoom in, … Read more

“It” Spoils Potent Storytelling with Commercialized Horror

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It appears to be one of the most crowd-pleasing horror films in recent memory. But a crowd-pleasing horror film is something of a contradiction in terms. If everyone finds it to their liking, then how unnerving, scary, or boundary-pushing can it possibly be? I’m not saying that every horror film has to have people throwing … Read more

“It Comes at Night” Is an Expression of Pure Pessimistic Horror

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Consistency of tone is essential for a successful psychological horror story.  In It Comes at Night, writer-director Trey Edward Shultz establishes an unyielding bleakness that completely permeates the entirety of his post-apocalyptic story.  The constant pressure of this mood grows and oppresses the viewer, like an emotional constrictor squeezing all hope and joy from the … Read more

“The Mummy” Something Something Stupid “Wrapped” Pun

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There’s an off-hand moment early on in The Mummy when Egyptologist Jenny Halsey (Annabelle Wallis) draws attention to the importance of the discovery that she and Nick Mortion (Tom Cruise) have made by referring to the age of the sarcophagus:  5,000 years.  Trouble is, Wallis clearly mouths “three”, not “five”.  Oh well, ADR happens.  Maybe … Read more

“Alien: Covenant” – a Muted Echo of a Once-Great Franchise

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The Alien franchise has been limping along since the early ‘90s, and a covenant with God herself can’t save it from the paucity of original thought on display in Ridley Scott’s latest shade of a film.  Alien: Covenant builds a great starting point, but squanders everything near the end of the first act, and it … Read more

Why “The Terminator” (1984) is the Greatest Terminator Film

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The Terminator (1984) is a better film than Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).  The other movies in the franchise are utter garbage and will not be discussed further.  And, if you’ll lower your pitchforks for long enough, this piece will provide several arguments asserting the superiority of The Terminator.  I’ll compare three aspects of the … Read more

“The Void”: a Loving Homage to Practical B-Movie Horror

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The Void is an unabashed celebration of classic B-movies, a smorgasbord of horror tropes lovingly arranged for nostalgic consumption.  Co-written and directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski, the film champions an old-fashioned approach to horror filmmaking, and will certainly delight fans of the genre.  Though some of the plot elements end up feeling rushed … Read more

“Train to Busan”: The Best Ethics Course Featuring Zombies

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You’d generally forgive a zombie movie for being shallow and uninventive, as long as the story generates the proper tone and mood.  Writer-director Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan deserves commendation for not only nailing the bleakness of and terror of a zombie apocalypse, but for infusing such a story with genuine heart, emotion, and intriguing … Read more

Jinn, Wartime, and Metaphor in the Amazing “Under the Shadow”

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And the jinn we created before from scorching fire. – Quran 15:27 “The Rocky Tract” Symbolism and metaphor are powerful weapons against oppression, and can also illuminate complex and unbearable situations like war and the subjugation of women.  Writer-director Babak Anvari’s debut feature Under the Shadow is a intelligent film that takes full advantage of … Read more

A Pair of Afterlife Trailers: “The Discovery” and “The Void”

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A pair of off-the-radar film released trailers recently, and both of them appear to offer something interesting for the fan of genre film.  Each also, in their own way, use concepts revolving around the afterlife as major plot elements.  These films are The Discovery and The Void.  This will be a short piece introducing each of these films and their trailers, and offering a few stray observations about what we’re seeing (and what other people have been saying).  Here we go!

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