I often wonder where filmmakers get their ideas about what goes on at girls’ slumber parties. I am under no illusion, of course, that their goal is accurate representation per se, but I am constantly filled with questions about where their ideas are coming from. Cartoons and shows primarily aimed at a younger audience primarily cast them in an air of mystery worthy of large-scale spy missions on the part of the boys, and fare for the older crowd seems predominantly focused on the lens of the male gaze. Nowhere else have I seen such an accurate representation of what really happens—scary storytelling, a bit of movie watching, some dabbling in dark mysticism—than in Graham Swon’s debut film The World is Full of Secrets…

“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms, and the autumn moon is bright”. So says Meleva (Maria Ouspenskaya) in one of the most memorable moments of the 1941 Universal classic, The Wolfman. Well, the wolfbane is blooming, and the autumn moon is bright, so what better time than now for Arrow Video to release a restored version of the film that lovingly references this scene, An American Werewolf in London…

There is a door in the woods. It stands unaided and unaccompanied by any other structure. Suspended without reason. The purpose of the door is unclear. It is locked. It is chained. It bears scorch marks from a long ago fire. And it is alone. This is the door in the woods. And soon it will find a new home…

Desperate people are capable of some pretty ugly things. If you’ve ever seen me a few hours after shoving Taco Bell down my throat, you know what I mean. In all seriousness, we wonder what we would do in situations where loved ones are threatened, without any clear-cut answer until we’re faced with a life or death crisis. Enter Rattlesnake, which deals heavily in the choices that make us human, or monsters…

To say that watching Blood Machines, which recently played at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, was an interesting experience would be a vast understatement. I did not know anything about this project before my viewing, so I had no idea what to expect. To summarize my feelings after it was over: Holy fuck. What a trip…

In 2016, first-time feature director Dan Trachtenberg released a tight and vicious little film called 10 Cloverfield Lane. And though it shares some of its namesake with 2008’s found-footage monster romp Cloverfield, the similarities end there. Until about the last 10 minutes of Cloverfield Lane when we discover the events of the first film serve as a backdrop and overarching human event and suddenly we see a universe forming...

For the first time ever, Killer Horror Critic will be hosting a screening in Los Angeles, and we are proud to present to horror fans the new supernatural horror feature, Echoes of Fear...

Haunted house stories date back to the very beginning of the horror genre and despite the couple hundred years between the original supernatural dwellings and present time, not a whole lot has changed. When looking at the gothic novels of the 1700s or Girl on the Third Floor, which just played at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, you will ultimately find the same themes and motifs occurring again and again...

Whether we like to admit it or not, cinephiles usher in an invisible set of expectations that we whip out when watching a new film. Years of being exposed to an endless catalogue of films of all genres have trained us to distinguish quality, predict the clichés, recognize homages and equally point out the frauds and copycats with vigorous justice. In particular though, horror and genre films embody those expectations more prominently...

Like a good number of 90s kids, my first introduction to the concept of anthology horror in cinema was the 1990 film Tales from the Darkside. It was a lean little picture with a great wraparound story featuring a child-eating Deborah Harry and a very young Matthew Lawrence using a book of scary stories to stall his impending doom. Something about it always stuck with me, likely in no small part due to the fantastic wraparound, that offered cheek and gallows humor in abundance…