Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976, aka The Watts Monster), directed by William Crain (who also directed 1972’s Blacula) is a brilliant example of the power of Blaxploitation horror. It features Dr. Henry Pride (Bernie Casey), a successful physician and medical researcher. The son of a maid, Pride has managed to work his way into the […]
I’ve read a good number of horror novels, mostly modern classics like Rosemary’s Baby, The Shining, The Exorcist, and The Haunting of Hill House. They are all frightening works of fiction, but I haven’t lost much sleep over them. It’s different with horror films. They really freak me out. But I like much of what […]
Part One Nosferatu reaching out his heart-stopping hand via Robert Eggers’ upcoming remake of the silent classic to grip the hearts of a new generation is not the only shadow of the past arising during the current renaissance of sophisticated scares. Movies like Ari Aster’s Hereditary and Midsommar, Jordan Peele’s Get Out and Us, M. […]
Pet Sematary, at least at the time Stephen King wrote his 2001 introduction, was the most frightening book he’d written, according to the author. He explains that for any parent the death of a child is perhaps the most traumatic event they might ever face. The only thing worse would be if s/he came back […]
Directed by Christopher Landon and written by Landon and Michael Kennedy, Freaky (2020) is a thought-provoking and fresh incarnation of the slasher formula. It’s bloody, wonderfully directed, serves up great performances by its leads, and is chock full of references to other slashers. In short, Freaky is a fantastic experience. As is evident from the […]
The Haunting of Bly Manor proves itself to be a true masterpiece in its complexity of characterization. A young American woman named Dani (Victoria Pedretti) takes on the position of an au pair for two young orphaned children at a rural English manor. In a previous piece, I explored how the creators of the show […]
AD Fredline Ever since the nation’s founding, the monster’s form in American horror cinema has chronicled American history, reflecting both our greatest fears and our greatest inhibitions, as suggested in W. Scott Poole’s Monsters in America (2014). While the purpose of monsters in horror cinema is most clearly to thrill and terrify, these creatures also […]
Beth Kattelman Kathy Bates’s compelling performance as Annie Wilkes in Rob Reiner’s Misery solidified her reputation as a great actress and earned her an Oscar. Her frightening portrayal fixed the image of the “number one fan” in the minds of viewers and ensured that filmgoers would never look at a sledgehammer in the same way […]
Melody Blackmore “the horror film stages and re-stages a constant repudiation of the maternal figure” – Barbara Creed[i] Rob Reiner’s film adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel Misery sees an obsessed violent woman terrorize a harmless man, yet this tale is not all that it seems, with a non-traditional female role played by Kathy […]