The problems of severe underrepresentation in behind-the-camera roles for women is well documented and been mentioned several times on this blog, so far be it for me to rehash that discussion. However if it is true that women are underrepresented generally in film, it is especially true when it comes to genre film, as is …
Continue reading Directed by Women: October 2018 Horror Edition
(Fair warning: This movie may venture into minor SPOILER territory. Do with that what you will) Forty years have passed since the deranged and psychotic killer Michael Myers stalked the picturesque suburbs of Haddonfield, IL, terrorizing Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and by extension, the countless audiences who turned up the witness his monstrosity. In …
Even though his work has generally gone downhill since the 1980s, there is no denying that Dario Argento is a pillar of horror. Between the 1970s and 1980s, Argento produced an unparalleled string of giallo films so iconic that Argento is synonymous with the genre. With a remake of his most famous movie Suspiria coming out next month …
Listen, I get it. No right-minded parents wants to intentionally terrify and traumatize their kids. It is in our every instinct to protect them from the world's terrors. And even if our altruistic instincts as parents aren't our prime motivators, the possibility of having to deal with our fraidy-cat children who can't sleep at night because …
Continue reading Horror For Kids! : A Brief (and Hardly Comprehensive) Round-Up
Since Stephen King first published Carrie in 1974, he has turned into a veritable goldmine for Hollywood. With over 60 movies adaptations of his works and a few dozen TV shows and mini-series already available (and another 8 projects along the way), it is almost easier to list his books that haven't gotten a screen adaptation than to list …
Thanks to his almost prodigious writing speed (averaging almost two novels a year since first publishing Carrie in 1974), and his generally generous attitude towards letting filmmakers adapt his work (save for one glaring exception), Stephen King represents something of a gold mine for Hollywood. For four years running I have spent some part of October catching …
Continue reading Bargain Basement Vol. 3: Stephen King Edition
Thanks to the increasing respectability of the horror genre in academic circles, horror movies that previously were destined for the bargain bins or packaged in cheap 50-film packs are being rescued and given the kind of fully restored Blu-ray releases usually reserved for much more prestigious and respectable fare. Now there may be some who wonder …
Continue reading Adventures in Criterion Vol. 3: Horror Movies
As has been the case with all my previous retrospective lists (1997, 2007, 2008), looking back at the world in film twenty years ago has been a very rewarding experience. Perspective is something that is painfully missing every awards season as most awards contenders are declared great barely months after they have first been seen. …
Homebody Movies 