A veterinary school freshman (Garance Marillier) develops a taste for raw flesh in the feature debut of French filmmaker Julia Ducournau. Part horror film, part coming-of-age drama, “Raw” is a visceral gut-punch of a film both in story and visuals, to the point that it is not recommended for the squeamish. That said, it’s gore […]

Horror tension, mystery tension and racial tension blend together into a gripping and formidable nail-biter in “Get Out,” the astonishing directorial debut of Jordan Peele. The former half of the comedy duo “Key & Peele” has found a way to both honor and subvert the thriller and horror genres in a way that’s unmistakably modern.

James Wan must feel like he’s got something to prove. The filmmaker has had success more than once (“Saw” and “Insidious”) in a horror genre that has been obnoxiously stagnant in recent years (everything is either a haunted house or exorcism film). “The Conjuring” is both, so more of the same for Wan.

Before the vampire craze of the late aughties there was “The Lost Boys.” Here’s my review from June 6, 2011. Living in the modern era of overdone vampire stories, “The Lost Boys” makes for a worthy retro antidote. With films and TV shows full of characters who simply are vampires these days, “Lost Boys” reminds […]

I feel like everything I’ve posted for my horror archive reviews this month has been a film that received or will receive a remake! This “Evil Dead” review comes from July 25, 2011. You might never suspect a relationship between horror and comedy — which means you’ve never seen a Sam Raimi horror film. Although […]

A fitting archive review for this weekend with “Paranormal Activity 4” in theaters (and some news that Sam Raimi could direct the remake of this one). From August 23, 2010. Some will say “Jaws” and other will say “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” but the 1982 “Poltergeist” offers the Exhibit B for of the […]

My review of this foreign horror film comes from Halloween 2010. Foreign language films lose out on a wider audience for two reasons: limited distribution and subtitles. Most audiences view subtitles as a hurdle to their enjoyment of a film, but regardless of whether that’s a founded argument, it’s inconsequential for “Let the Right One […]

I finally saw the original zombie-mall masterpiece back in April. It’s rather striking how much “Dawn of the Dead” feels like its own original film. Maybe its the move from black and white to color or the complete change in main characters, but outside of that, it’s entirely the same concept as its predecessor.

Everything that makes high school an evil, evil place comes to the forefront in “Carrie,” or at least all the worst possible combinations of things that could literally make high school hell. Brian De Palma brings Stephen King’s first novel to life as part coming-of-age drama, part obnoxious high school movie and part horror film […]

It’s horror archive reviews all October long! This review of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is from August 4, 2010.

Horror films always seem to take place in the present, which is understandable, considering one decade or century isn’t necessarily scarier than the next (in the traditional sense of fear). It also costs more money to dress up a film in a particular era. So if it weren’t actually scary or interesting, “The Woman in […]

The horror genre clings onto and feeds off of audience expectations. From a fan perspective, horror-lovers tend to flock to films that appear as if they will evoke the feelings of previous successes, even to the point of supporting blatant mimicry. From a filmmaking perspective, a horror director’s go-to card is expectation—the audience recognizing those […]

Haunted houses and questionable children have composed many a horror film, but there’s a reason they work. When they do so despite years of being recycled, it’s usually thanks to talent. “Saw” director James Wan found something of promise in “Saw” writer Leigh Whannell’s story “Insidious” and the same must’ve gone for stars Rose Byrne […]

From an outside perspective, two counts of unoriginality can be charged to “The Crazies.” One: it’s a remake of a George Romero film from the ’70s; Two: it adds another quarantined disease zombie movie to the pile that proliferated this past decade. Yet Breck Eisner’s version does so many little things right. He keeps “The […]

Thought I’d go with this one in honor of my last post. Going into the Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece “Psycho,” it’s best that you know nothing — in fact Hitchcock wanted it that way — so this review will be succint and devoid of any synopsis beyond that of the basic plot summaries provided for the […]