I’ve made this argument before here on this hellish collection of rambling, incoherent thoughts I call a blog, but I’ll say it again: As a general rule, I hate remakes. It’s the absolute bottom of the barrel in terms of sheer creative bankruptcy. It’s a studio and a collection of writers, producers, directors, and actors all getting together and saying “Hey, we don’t have a … Continue reading Back From the Dead: The Best Horror Remakes
Try to think of a goofier monster than Bigfoot. I dare you. Despite being a mysterious, enigmatic cryptid, a creature that could possibly really exist somewhere out there in the forests of the American Pacific northwest, it’s been pretty much rendered a hokey joke by pop culture. The name Sasquatch doesn’t so much conjure the image of an elusive, majestic mythological beast so much as … Continue reading Willow Creek, and the Dangers of Finding Bigfoot
A lot of horror cinema is very gimmick-centric. While the goal of every film is ultimately to get enough butts in enough seats to turn a profit on the production, it seems that horror in particular has taken that goal as a challenge. Going back to the 1950s and 60s with the films of William Castle, who was the king of the theater gimmick, horror … Continue reading Keep Filming: The Best of Found Footage Horror
I used to hate westerns. My great-grandfather was obsessed with them, and as I kid I never understood why. They bored me to tears. It seemed like every single film in the genre had the exact same plot, the exact same characters, and the exact same showdown at the climax. To younger me, if it didn’t have lasers, aliens, or explosions, then it wasn’t worth … Continue reading It’s Cowboys vs Cannibals in ‘Bone Tomahawk’
I love horror. It’s a fantastic genre, full of a wide-ranging plethora of different flavors and styles of filmmaking. There’s so many unique and fascinating subgenres and breeds of horror films that odds are, even the staunchest critic of the genre can find something that suits their interests. But that isn’t to say that it isn’t without its flaws. Chief among these is the way … Continue reading Distressing Damsels: The Ass-Kicking Leading Ladies of Subversive Horror
Horror and comedy are inherently symbiotic. They’re balancing forces to one another, helping to lower and raise tension and mood so that scares hit harder, and laughs come easier. Jokes calm the nerves, making a jump scare all the more unexpected and effective, while a good fright makes a comedy bit land way better as a palate cleanser than it ever would as a standalone. … Continue reading Frights and Funnies: The Best of Horror/Comedies
Before I get into the topic at hand today, first we need a quick history lesson: In the early 1980s, a wave of reports swept the United States, Canada, and many parts of Europe, alleging supposedly occult explanations and causes for a wide range of different crimes and abuse scandals. Dubbed the “Satanic Panic” by the media, largely in retrospect, this rise in religious hysteria … Continue reading ‘The House of the Devil’: Satanic-Panic in Style
Today, we’re going to take a slight detour from our regularly scheduled programming, and step away from the in-universe appeal of horror films. Instead, we’re taking a step back behind the curtain, behind the scenes, and dedicating a bit of time to the cogs and pieces that make these films work so well, even after all this time. Today’s topic: Horror documentaries. The general rule … Continue reading Behind the Masks: Horror Documentaries
Last Week, I gave some suggestions for horror movies that are a little lighter on the violence and brutality than is normally part-and-parcel with the genre. These are movies that still deliver on the scares, but don’t necessarily make you want to avert your eyes in disgust. But some of you sickos don’t need the soft stuff. You guys are the veterans, the iron stomachs. … Continue reading Not for the Faint of Heart: Hard-to-Watch Horror
You know, it’s a shame that it’s taken me so long to talk about ‘The People Under the Stairs’, considering that it’s the film that this site is literally named after. But since I’ve been cranking out so much content in preparation for Halloween this year, I figured I really have no excuse at this point. And, frankly, the film is as topical now as … Continue reading ‘The People Under the Stairs’ and its Complex Legacy as a White-Helmed ‘Urban’ Horror Story
The Blogger Under the Stairs 