Retrospectives
Why The Dead Zone Was a Surprise For Everyone Involved
The Dead Zone was made just as Stephen King adaptations were starting to become pretty hit or miss. People weren’t necessarily expecting each new movie taken from the author’s work ...
Why Bubba Ho-Tep Was an Unexpected Success (And Why We’ll Never See the Sequel)
Bubba Ho-Tep is easily one of the biggest cult classics to come out of the previous decade. As far as low budget indie flicks go, it was a huge success. Nobody really expected it, but that was part of...
Why Scream 2’s Deconstruction of Sequels is Even More Meta Than the First
Considering just how quickly after the first it was made, Scream 2 is a movie that probably shouldn’t have worked. At the very least, it shouldn’t have worked half as well as it did. It ...
How The Bird With the Crystal Plumage Established Argento’s Signature Style
The Bird With the Crystal Plumage was the 1970 debut of Italian director Dario Argento, and that’s pretty amazing considering just how great of a debut feature it is. In some ways, it’s ...
’90s Horror Movies That Defined the Decade
The ’90s was an interesting decade for horror. It stumbled a bit in the first half and became insanely commercial in the second half. Each end of the spectrum was covered with very little i...
How Bride of Frankenstein Set the Template for Every Horror Sequel
Everyone has their favorite horror sequel. And, of course, everyone has their least favorite as well. Following up a classic can be incredibly difficult to pull off. The first problem is jus...
Gremlins 2 Nailed the Art of Self-Satire (Here’s How)
I’ll get this out of the way right up front: Gremlins 2 is one of the most underrated sequels of all time. It might not be as a good as the first film. While it’s bigger and funnier, it&...
Why Stir of Echoes is Still in the Shadow of The Sixth Sense (And Why it Shouldn’t Be)
The Sixth Sense is one of the biggest, most critically acclaimed horror movies of all time. Sure, people may now insist that they saw the twist coming from the very first scene, but you didn’t ...
How Cronenberg’s The Fly Made Body Horror Mainstream
David Cronenberg, especially in his early days, was never a mainstream director. His films weren’t meant to be accessible to the widest possible audience. He was at the forefront of body horror...