Apollo 18 : Houston, we have a Problem
The found-footage genre took us deep into the woods with The Blair Witch Project (1999). It exposed the ghost of John Wayne Gacy in 8213: Gacy House (2010). It documented a demonic entity in the Paranormal Activity series. In Diary of the Dead (2008), found-footage highlighted the deceased returning to life. With Apollo 18, the…
Will Contagion be Catchy?
Brace yourself (or not). Soon to be released is Contagion, the latest film from award-winning director Steven Soderbergh. It stars Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow and Laurence Fishburne. Until I saw an advertisement for this film on the side of a bus a few weeks ago, I hadn’t heard of this film. It deals with…
Antichrist (2009): The kind of Antichrist you aren’t expecting
Before being kicked out of 2011’s Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Lars Von Trier was no stranger to controversy. He has received as much acclaim for his art house films as he has criticism. Perhaps his most violent work to date is 2009’s Antichrist. By Von Trier’s own admission, Antichrist was supposed to be a horror…
Freddy is Not Dead
During the final days of August, I attended Fan Expo Canada in the city of Toronto. This large convention caters to Horror, Sci-Fi, Comics and Gaming – this year it was a 4 day event. The Guest of Honor was Robert Englund and what caught me by surprise was how popular Mr. Englund is. Most…
What was ‘Friday the 13th’ About?
I have been contemplating this lately… most film critics (and even many fans) find little artistic value in slasher films, which are generally considered thoughtless, shocking and morbid for mere entertainment’s sake. For me they always had a little more value. I posed a few thoughts and observations to Victor Miller, the creator of Jason…