While it may seem counterintuitive, social and cultural outrage is one of the most important aspects of human development, since without the ability to recognise when something is amiss and respond to it accordingly based on the combination of social conditions and visceral instincts, we’d be running amok as a species, unable to control ourselves…
Tag: horror
The Girl on the Broomstick (1972)
There are many qualities associated with the fall of the Soviet Union that tend to be fascinating, that extend beyond the historical context and instead focus on other qualities not normally discussed when looking at this era. For decades, the art produced by the Soviet Union and its closest allies was mainly hidden from Western…
Dead Man’s Wire (2025)
Sometimes we come across a story that truly embodies the adage that reality is often stranger than fiction. This is perfectly represented in the case of Tony Kiritsis, a mild-mannered man living in Indianapolis, beloved by his community and respected by all those he encountered in his daily life. However, after feeling wronged by the…
The Gorgon (1964)
The phrase “they don’t make films like they used to anymore” is a hackneyed concept usually brought out to disparage contemporary works, which are often unfairly compared to those of yesteryear, particularly by people who tend to look at previous decades through rose-tinted glasses. Yet, there are some genres where this phrase is not only…
They Live (1988)
The general principle behind satire is that it needs to occupy one of two extremes – either, it needs to be subtle enough that we don’t realize what is being conveyed until a crucial moment in which we encounter some major revelation, or it needs to be so glaringly obvious that there is never any…
The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (1942)
Few authors earned their reputation more than Edgar Allan Poe, and his status as the quintessential master of the macabre, his style being embraced as some of the most important literature ever to be written in Gothic horror and mystery. Pinpointing his most challenging and disturbing work is a challenge, but one of the strongest…
Weapons (2025)
We’re living in an era where horror has finally become one of the most esteemed, respected genres – the days where it was viewed as merely a secondary genre to the melodrama and western are thankfully far behind us, even if we do find some of the passion directed to the dreadfully trite concept of…
Mr. K (2025)
I often wonder whether Franz Kafka realised that his writing would have such an enormous impact on global culture – not only have his works been formative in the creation of entire literary movements, the very mention of his name evokes particular images and ideas, such as the frustrations of navigating the bureaucracy, endless hallways…
Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970)
While it is tempting to view it as a singular chronological entity (particularly since we are predisposed to preferring the orderly structure it contains), cinema is nothing more than a series of movements, occurring concurrently and often in slightly different ways when it comes to themes and overall artistic innovation. Breaking it up into smaller…
All My Friends Hate Me (2022)
We all know that familiar feeling of walking into a room, and suddenly being struck by a truly intrusive thought – “everyone here hates me”. Perhaps some have been lucky enough to have avoided such irrational and nonsensical delusions. Still, the vast majority of us have felt insecure from time to time, especially in arbitrary…
The Postmodern Pelican 