The Invisible Man has been the cinematic subject of effects extravaganzas (most notably James Whale’s 1933 adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel), wartime propaganda (“Invisible Agent”), deadpan comedy (“Memoirs of an Invisible Man”), and psychosexual satire (“Hollow Man”), but rarely has he ever led a straight horror film. This is the hole that filmmaker Leigh…
The horror genre relies, to an extent, on the utilization of familiar tropes. The use of these tropes can reward and subvert expectations, and how these tropes are used contributes to the film’s effectiveness. Audience familiarity is both an opportunity and a difficulty for filmmakers: Give the audience what they want and they welcome it,…
Latest on the slate from Blumhouse Productions — known for their mostly neutered horror flicks (“Unfriended: Dark Web,” “Truth or Dare,” “Happy Death Day,” to name a few of the more recent ones) — is Fantasy Island, a retooling of a campy, Aaron Spelling produced television show. And much like that late 70s to early…
Fans of Jordan Peele’s incomparable societal critique “Get Out” can rejoice as the horror-auteur swings for the fences in his newest horror-thriller Us, and for the most part, hits it straight out of the park. Piggybacking off of the inquisitive, yet cynical, tone of his directorial debut, Us follows the Wilson family as they attempt…
In 1978, director John Carpenter made one of the most profitable and influential indie horror films in the history of American cinema, “Halloween.” Some critics argue that it jump-started the slasher genre, although “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974) and “Ecologia del delitto” (1971) precede it, as well as plenty of Italian giallo flicks and earlier…
It would be an understatement to say that I have been merely looking forward to Glass. Its arrival was all I could think about since it was announced after the release of “Split,” a movie that came out three years ago. Having watched “Unbreakable” all those years ago, I felt my mind break a little…
In 1915, D. W. Griffith’s film “The Birth of a Nation” was released, en route to becoming one of the most influential and controversial films in cinema history. Griffith’s historical epic created indelible imprints on film content and style, particularly in the areas of racial representation and editing. A century later, Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman attempts…
