The slasher genre is in desperate need of a makeover
The slasher genre desperately needs a makeover after the rise of self-awareness and irony has all but killed it.
Top 10 horror films of 2015
Despite the general consensus that modern horror movies aren’t nearly as good as the classics, 2015 was an absolutely fantastic year for the genre.
Krampus is a delightfully dark holiday spectacular
As we get older, Christmas can become an increasingly bleak time of year.
Horror anthology ‘Tales of Halloween’ is your new holiday tradition
About a half hour into Tales of Halloween, I realized this was my first viewing of a movie I’d be watching over and over again.
The Final Girls has nothing new to say about slasher movies
The slasher genre has been ruthlessly mocked for years, and so if you want to spoof it, you really have to bring something new to the table. Just pointing out the tropes isn’t enough anymore. The Cabin in the Woods was something fresh because it justified genre cliches with a massive conspiracy, and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil…
How M. Night Shyamalan pulls off a magic trick in The Visit
The Visit is a highly flawed film, and for much of its running time, I was constantly unsure M. Night Shyamalan knew what he was doing. By its third act, though, many of the problems not only seemed less important, but actually appeared to be an intentional part of Shyamalan’s magic trick. The movie isn’t quite as scary or…
The Visit is an above average found footage film and a return to form for M. Night Shyamalan
Every time I saw the trailer for The Visit over the past few months, uncomfortable laughter would fill the theater. The same thing occurred during the movie itself, and I had a genuinely difficult time deciding if we were laughing at or with Shyamalan. In the end the answer is, I think, a bit of both.…
Sinister 2 is a surprisingly solid, restrained sequel that brings the scares
Sinister is not an easy movie to make a sequel to. The original is built entirely around mystery, and that’s part of makes it work so well. We’re totally in the dark alongside Ellison, and we don’t understand much about Baghuul and how he operates until the final act. Sometimes not knowing is a lot scarier than…
Whatever happened to horror film budgets?
Earlier this year, producer Brad Fuller gave an interview with Esquire about the upcoming Friday the 13th reboot, and he provided some fascinating insights into the current state of horror filmmaking. Fuller told a story about how in 2009 the latest Friday the 13th movie opened, costing Paramount Pictures $20 million. Later that year, Fuller…
The Gallows is the bottom of the found footage barrel
The Gallows is like a feature length argument for why found footage needs to die, chock full of absolutely everything that’s wrong with the first-person formula. It isn’t completely without merit, and there’s some great stuff in here, but given how cool the idea is, the movie itself is a massive disappointment. This thing never should have made it to theaters.
