Silent Night, Deadly Night
In theory—well, maybe—one is not supposed to laugh while watching the events of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) unfold, but damn does this feel cathartic and mirth-inducing.
Black Christmas
There are horror movies in which Christmas is present, as if incidentally, and there are horror movies in which Christmas is the crux.
The Devil-Doll
Well, here we have quite the farrago: Tod Browning’s penultimate film, Lionel Barrymore in drag, enslavement, telekinesis, paralysis, skin-slicing, an explosion, Christmas, romance, and what’s tantamount to heartwarming horror.
The House in Marsh Road
We speak of unreliable narrators, but what of an unreliable film? That is, a movie that purports to tell one story but may in truth be telling another. Can such a film be worth seeking out for reasons outside the purview of its own intentions?
Revenge of the Creature
There are three prevailing mindsets behind horror-movie sequels. The most typical goes something like, “We can squeeze out some more bucks here and don’t need to put a lot of thought into anything.”
The Gorgon
To love Hammer horror films is to love the look of them and probably also have an abiding affection for the fall, given that it always seems to be autumn in the world of Hammer.
Invaders from Mars
The rub for makers of American movie horror through the bulk of the 1950s was to make sure that their scares were couched in science fiction.
The Woman in White
People who peruse vintage TV programming schedules are used to seeing horror movies billed as something other than “horror,” as if the term was to be avoided whenever possible.
Home Sweet Watchtower
Movies ghoulishly suited for imaginative in-house Halloween viewing.
Punctured Life
A place where no actual blood was spilled—at least to my knowledge—my grandmother’s house proved strangely—even sagely—sanguinary as it pertained to an important development in my life.