Speaking the Curse to Drag Me to Hell (2009)
You Shamed Me
It was early summer in 2009. Friday night. I was sitting in a movie theater, as I was prone to do and I was excited. No, scratch that… ecstatic. I was there...
Blood, Laughs and Yard Work in Tucker and Dale VS. Evil (2010)
I had been hearing about Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010) for over a year when it finally hit Netflix in late 2011. I was deeply entrenched in the horror genre then— scouring...
Don’t Get Them Wet: Birthing Adorable Monstrosities in Gremlins (1984)
It was late and it was snowing. I was wrapped in a blanket that smelled sort of funny, you know, a musty sort of smell that led me to believe it had been balled...
Desires of Blood in the Folktale Horror of The Witch (2015)
There are some movies that just feel dangerous. As if they’re capable of anything. Movies that seem to be constructed more of dread than plot. Nightmarish windows into a different world, foreign to us...
An Electrifying Hot Tub in Valentine (2001)
In the early 2000’s, for my friends and I, Friday nights were reserved for the movie theater. It didn’t matter what movie it was— if it was playing, my friends and I would see...
Babysitting Jud in Pet Sematary (1989)
Even as a child, with no knowledge or interest in the more horrific stories that the world had to offer me, I was aware of the name: Stephen King.
The moniker felt more like a...
Bath Invaders from Outer Space in James Gunn’s Slither (2006)
Global Worming
I arrived at the movie theater about 45 minutes early. I was energized. Excited. It was Friday night, opening night, and I was certain every other horror fan was feeling the same way....
Written in Blood: Introducing the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow (1999)
As were most teenagers in the late 90s, I was a Tim Burton fan. It was hard not to be given his striking aesthetic and proclivity for telling dark fairy tales in a way...
The Queen Attacks in THE FACULTY (1998)
As a high school student in the late 90s and early 2000s who was only peripherally aware of horror, even I knew the name Kevin Williamson. Not only had he helped to usher in...
Pretending to be Alive: The Zombies of Land of the Dead (2005)
My imagination was running wild.
The menacing heads of encroaching zombies stretched as far as the yellow and black horizon, under the shadow of a dimly lit cityscape. Floating above it all in large red...
Can I Bug You For a Ride? The Subway Car in Mimic (1997)
Growing up, my house tended to be the spot where most of my friends hung out. We had video games, a pantry stacked with snacks, parents that didn’t interfere… you know, the usual. but...
Fruits, Brains and Bats in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Sequels come with a certain degree of baggage. That is to say, the sequel’s greatest enemy is expectation, more often than not brought on by the love and adoration which accompanies its predecessor. After...
The Hunted Challenges the Hunter in PREDATOR (1987)
The teenager at the register gave my friends and I a decidedly inquisitive look as he held the clear box containing the R-rated cassette tape against the counter. His fingers drummed against the dull...
The Horror of Evolution from Script to Screen in THE RELIC (1997)
I had this friend growing up who was known for his Dad’s VHS collection. His living room was lined with wooden cabinets containing every movie one could think of (and plenty more you’d scarcely...
The Dog Kennel from The Thing (1982)
OBEDIENCE TRAINING GONE WRONG
It was the summer of 2004. As burgeoning horror fans, my brother and I used our freedom from school and responsibility to digest as much genre cinema as we possibly could....
Written in Blood: The Scoleri Brothers of Ghostbusters II (1989)
For years I thought my earliest theatrical experience belonged to Duck Tales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990). Even in my hazy, 6-year-old memory, I recall the dark theater, the huge screen...
Harsh Consequences for Bad Humor in April Fool’s Day (1986)
Holiday slashers are a time-honored tradition. A subgenre of great renown amongst horror fans, these entries become some of the most rewatched titles in any genre enthusiast’s collection.
There’s little I look forward to more...
Eddie’s Transformation in Howling (1981)
Everything transforms eventually, in one way or another. But, let me back up…
While 1981 saw the release of three rather large in scope werewolf films, An American Werewolf in London, The Howling and Wolfen,...
Just Hanging Around in Urban Legend (1998)
I have a confession: I didn’t always get horror.
You see, the horror genre and I have a long, sordid relationship. Sure, everything is all wine and roses now, but, like most great romances, it...
A Hand, Broken Dishes, and a Chainsaw in Evil Dead II
Lend me a hand?
I came upon the first Evil Dead (1981) while researching influential horror movies online. I had heard the title before and had previously assumed it to be a schlock oddity, something...
An Eye for Detail in THE TERMINATOR (1984)
I suppose I knew Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) was a sequel, but for all intents and purposes in my eight-year-old mind, that was definitively the only entry in the killer robot from the post-apocalyptic...
Goodnight, Evil Ed, Fright Night (1985)
Every year, on October 1st, I have a ritual.
I light some candles. I plug in the jack o’lantern beside my couch. I watch as the timer on my outdoor decorations clicks over, illuminating my...
Clowning Around in Krampus (2015)
“He left me, as a reminder of what happens when hope is lost, when belief is forgotten, and the Christmas spirit dies.”
Now, I know what you’re thinking: it’s Christmas and, conceptually speaking, a dead...
Opening a Door on Scream (1996)
One fateful sleepover in the summer of 1998, my friend Erich opened his father’s VHS cabinet and invited the group of us to peer inside and make a selection. It was late by then,...
Choking on Day of the Dead (1985)
I placed the DVD down on the table excitedly, bright yellow and featuring the jutting out visage of a forlorn looking zombie. I had watched Dawn of the Dead (1978) only the night before...