Hollywood’s return to making monster films has certainly been a wonderful surprise, since it has become increasingly clear that these films, while not always of the highest quality, usually contain an element of ingenuity and creativity that is often missing from a lot of other genres. Attempts to make the genre more formal and sophisticated…
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The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
Nestled deep in the countryside of pastoral New England sits a beautiful historical building, which has been the home of many fascinating people over the years. However, it is currently occupied by Professor Billings, a gentle but eccentric scientist, who has decided to sell the house, under the condition that he can maintain his laboratory…
Road to Perdition (2002)
Forgiveness is something we all seek at different points in our lives, but which we know is not always guaranteed, and even when it is received, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the past is immediately erased. The actions that led to that particular act of contrition can follow someone like a spectre, lingering in their…
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Whenever I travel, my father undoubtedly (and mostly as a joke) states “stay out of the woods”, a warning to steer clear of those untrodden parts of any country in which evil normally tends to lurk, whether it is of our world or supernatural. Art has always been fascinated with the unknown, and I’ve often…
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Horror is a genre that is constantly changing. If we arrange its development in as much of a linear form as we can, it is possible to see the ebb and flow of certain concepts and styles in terms of popularity and how artistic innovation influenced so many different phases of a genre that has…
Day of the Fight (2024)
We may get only one chance at a first impression, but there is rarely a bad opportunity to seek redemption, even if it can be a daunting process. Jack Huston seems to be enthralled by the idea of following someone as they set out to right the wrongs of their past, as it forms the…
Next Door (2021)
In his directorial debut, Daniel Brühl asks his audience a series of fascinating questions, none of which have any clear answers. Playing a fictionalized version of himself (or at least a Spanish-German actor named Daniel, who has found relative success in both Europe and the United States), Brühl is telling the story of Berlin through…
The Five Heartbeats (1991)
One of the most encouraging and motivational stories of a filmmaker rising above adversity to have his work produced is found in the career of Robert Townsend, whose film Hollywood Shuffle is the epitome of tenacity. Profoundly dedicated to the premise, Townsend not only made the film on a shoestring budget, but whatever resources went…
Hello Out There! (1949)
James Whale was certainly an enigmatic figure – while he is most well-known for defining the genre of horror as we know it (being amongst the first auteurs to ever make a career out of scaring audiences), he was known to try other genres from time to time, experimenting with different stories and finding a…
Bernice Bobs Her Hair (1976)
Bernice Bobs Her Hair is a work of incredible artistic integrity, accomplishing in 45 minutes what even the most well-crafted feature-length film fail to do in twice the amount of time – it provides us with a deep and insightful glimpse into the human condition, carefully curated by a director who has rarely received much…
The Postmodern Pelican 