Relic could be reductively described as “Hereditary” meets “Dark Water” with traces of “The Babadook.” The last reference might be due to this being a dour Australian horror involving an old-style house and maternal issues, but it’s a fine connection, nonetheless. While it also features small and sinister objects as well as strained family relationships,…
A young boy, trailing his Radio Flyer down the sidewalk behind him, goes door to door collecting comics. But he is neither superfan nor traveling salesman. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women opens with a book burning demonstration after the most successful female superhero comic has been maligned by its self-righteous critics for its representation…
Vapidity loves company. Nicolas Winding Refn is all about the surface-level pose and the finely tuned image, so it’s fitting that his latest movie, The Neon Demon, sets its sights on the modelling industry and its harshly high standards of beauty. The plan is to use horror elements to illuminate the dark corners of a…
I teach high school English and have a master’s degree in my content, so I’ve read quite a bit and I’ve studied many authors. I took a seminar in Jane Austen, but, to my disappointment, the only book I enjoyed was one NOT written by Austen (Evelina by Frances Burney, in case you’re curious). I’ve…
As the title, The Curse of Downers Grove, suggests, there’s a curse on the small town of Downers Grove — each year, a senior dies in the days leading up to graduation. I incorrectly assumed the curse would be supernatural, and as soon-to-graduate high school senior Chrissie (Bella Heathcote, “Dark Shadows”) tells her friends, it’s…
