Any good slasher movie worth its salt gives us a villain that has some traumatic event that sets off their murderous frenzy – their “trigger,” if you will. Sometimes it’s horrifically tragic, sometimes it’s tragically […]
Category: Columns
DIE, OR GET LAID TRYING (ON THE ROLE OF HORROR SHAPING ’90S SOFT-CORE)
Do successful horror films grow into franchises, or are they genetically bound to the insatiable libido of culture, forcing them to evolve into soft-core porn? While longevity among any horror brand has both its inevitable […]
PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROWDY 1970s SEX COMEDY
I first heard about Pretty Maids All In A Row from Anna Biller’s Twitter account. It’s evidence that everybody’s capable of giving you useful information at least once. This film caught my attention because it stars Rock […]
GOOD GOD, Y’ALL: THE PIOUS PSYCHOSIS OF FATHER JANSEN IN SPLATTER UNIVERSITY
Any good slasher movie worth its salt gives us a villain that has some traumatic event that sets off their murderous frenzy – their “trigger,” if you will. Sometimes it’s horrifically tragic, sometimes it’s tragically […]
24 HOUR PSYCHO: SPENDING A DAY AT THE BATES MOTEL
The first thing that comes up if you search for Douglas Gordon’s 24 Hour Psycho on YouTube is his interpretation of the shower scene from Hitchcock’s 1960 original. In the end, it could probably never […]
THE TRAGIC DEMISE OF ALEX HAMMOND IN PROM NIGHT
Any good slasher movie worth its salt gives us a villain that has some traumatic event that sets off their murderous frenzy – their “trigger,” if you will. Sometimes it’s horrifically tragic, sometimes it’s tragically […]
JENNIFER LOPEZ, MORE THAN JUST A FLY GIRL
During a holiday dinner late last year, the topic of Jennifer Lopez’s acting career came up, within the context of a larger film discussion, thanks to my mentioning her excellence in Steven Soderbergh’s Out of […]
FILE UNDER: CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS SH*T IS RATED PG??
Rock musicals of the 1970s are one of numerous corners in pop culture that represent the rapid change of taste happening during the New Hollywood era. For decades, the traditional musical was a reliable gimmick […]
Rutger Hauer: The Nostradamus of Cyberpunk Cinema
Rutger Hauer started his acting career as “the Dutch Robert Redford.” He was a leading man but lurking beneath the surface was a limitless reservoir of talent and an uncanny ability to tap into the […]
DEAR JOHN: THE BROKEN HEART OF “PROWLER” SHERIFF GEORGE FRASER
Any good slasher movie worth its salt gives us a villain that has some traumatic event that sets off their murderous frenzy – their “trigger,” if you will. Sometimes it’s horrifically tragic, sometimes it’s tragically […]
TRAUMA BEGETS TRAUMA: THE MOTIVATION OF PAMELA VOORHEES
Any good slasher movie worth its salt gives us a villain WHO has some traumatic event that sets off their murderous frenzy – their trigger, if you will. Sometimes it’s horrifically tragic, sometimes it’s tragically […]
HOME IS WHERE THE HORROR IS IN PETER TSCHERKASSKY’S OUTER SPACE
Experimental cinema is a strange beast. Often treated as something different to more conventional styles of film, it can feel like a sub-genre that’s drowned in the academic, made impenetrable or unable to be understood […]
MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRLS GONE WILD
Vera Chytilova graduated from the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU) in 1962, but when she entered the Academy, she stood in front of a board of resident […]
BAVA IN SPACE: PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES REMAINS A COLORFUL EXPLORATION
Blending science fiction and horror together on film often creates both excitement and dread among cinephiles. There is a feeling of excitement because of a universe of possibilities for clever filmmakers to create cosmic calamities […]
TRASH TALK: THE UNBELIEVABLY FASCINATING CHARACTER OF MORTON DOWNEY JR.
PUMP UP THE COLUMN EXPLORES THE MANY INTERPRETATIONS OF PUNK AESTHETIC USED IN CINEMA In my first “Pump Up The Column” piece I mentioned that the definition of punk varies. If you ask some maybe […]