It seems like everyone has their own unique encounter with the work of Osgood Perkins, whose directorial career has been the very definition of a slow-burn, gradual rise to acclaim. Most filmmakers working in the proverbial field of “elevated horror” (a vulgar term if there ever was one) tend to emerge as major voices right…
Category: Horror
The Werewolf of Washington (1973)
Some satire tends to be quite subtle, while others veer towards presenting their intentions and themes so aggressively, we have to admire the gall. In the case of The Werewolf of Washington, we find that the latter is the preferred modus operandi of director Milton Moses Ginsberg (a little-known editor whose only other endeavour into…
Presence (2025)
There was some discourse recently about the best filmmakers who don’t have a single masterpiece to their name, a sign of someone being technically gifted and a solid authorial voice but who has struggled to establish themselves as having at least one work that carries their legacy. One of the names that came up in…
Handling the Undead (2024)
Saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy, and we often find that it is made more difficult when we feel that sense of deep regret for all that we didn’t say and do when they were alive, knowing that we are going to be burdened with that remorse for the rest of our…
Mercy (2014)
Home is where the heart is, but it’s also often where the trauma lies, which is a concept many of us come to realize far too late in life. We all carry our challenges, but there’s something about the home in which we grew up that feels particularly difficult to overcome, even if our experiences…
Slither (2006)
Why is it always the small towns and quaint hamlets that are favoured by science fiction and horror writers when it comes time to choose the setting for their works? What is it about these charming little villages that makes them so appealing as far as tales of alien invasion and supernatural possession tend to…
Deliverance (1972)
There are many places we are encouraged to explore and experience their splendour, whether they are in the natural or constructed world. Yet, horror films set in these places very rarely yield particularly effective results, with the exception of a few that are truly innovative. Yet, the sense of adventure and familiarity with the excitement…
Wolf Man (2025)
For what has seemed like decades, Universal has been attempting to revive its long-deceased cinematic universe based around iconic monsters that populated several incredibly successful and historically important horror films made between the 1930s and late 1940s. Despite their best efforts, there haven’t been many instances where it felt like they were doing anything particularly…
The United Screams of America: A Terror-Fueled Voyage Through Fifty-One Films
A couple of years ago, I chose a slightly ambitious project – I would take a cinematic road trip through the United States, choosing a single film from each of the fifty states (as well as Washington D.C.) that was either entirely or prominently set within that particular part of the country, to get a…
Nosferatu (2024)
As far as horror goes, we have never had any shortage of films about vampires, which stretch right to the dawn of the silent era (where the term “vampire” wasn’t even widely used in the same way it is now), and extend to the modern day, where filmmakers attempt to establish their own voices within…
The Postmodern Pelican 