Author: Laura Kern

A Reflection of Fear

Renowned cinematographer William A. Fraker, perhaps best known for lensing Rosemary’s Baby, naturally hired one of the best—László Kovács—to shoot his own film A Reflection of Fear, the second of his three features, and his only directorial venture into horror.

Copycat

Male buddy movies are a dime a dozen, yet finding memorable female screen teams is as difficult as securing a good therapist, doctor, lover, or any other real-world rarity. Yet in Jon Amiel’s 1995 serial-killer thriller, the steely women protagonists M.J. and Helen are a powerhouse duo thanks to the ingenious pairing of Holly Hunter and Sigourney Weaver…

The Blob

More an homage than a direct remake, Chuck Russell’s The Blob is distinctly ’80s but with a ’50s soul.

It Stains the Sands Red

Every so often, the zombie movie collapses from pure fatigue, and some heroic film has to come along and pull it back up. In 2016, the second feature directed by Colin Minihan, one half of the non-sibling Vicious Brothers (Grave Encounters), was the one that came to the rescue, giving the tired subgenre a fresh new spin in the process.

Dead Calm

As we entered the 1990s, the era of sleazy sex thrillers, genre fans exited the previous decade with the parting gift of 1989’s Dead Calm. The Phillip Noyce–directed, George Miller–produced, Australian-made movie veered into racy, provocative territory without neglecting its main mission of delivering unadulterated edge-of-your-seat suspense.

Ravenous

Completely mismarketed and misunderstood upon its initial 1999 release, Antonia Bird’s wicked period-horror adventure set in the snowy western Sierra Nevadas during the Mexican-American War was also, as a result, barely seen.

Dangerous Animals

With only three brisk features over 16 long years, Sean Byrne has become perhaps the most fervently anticipated horror filmmaker, to the frustration of impatient fans.

My Bloody Valentine

“There’s more than one way to lose your heart,” states the catchiest of the many taglines attached to the original, and best, Valentine’s-themed horror film. George Mihalka’s second feature, and still his most celebrated work, is holiday-specific in both its Valentine’s Day setting and its locale, a small made-up Canadian mining town called Valentine Bluffs.

Strange Darling

Everyone’s got their pet peeves. My biggest movie one happens to be the use of chapters. Films are not books, so they should be able to tell a story in a cinematic way, visually and sonically. Movie chapters always struck me as gimmicky distractions—until Strange Darling came along.