Author: Sean Parker


  • If there’s anything I know about Takeshi Kushida, it’s that he can craft a visually striking horror movie. Whatever side of the fence you fell on with Kushida’s debut feature, Woman of the Photographs, you can’t say it wasn’t a lavishly colored and beautifully shot debut feature. Kushida’s artistic prowess combined with a love/hate relationship…

  • Typecasting is a terrible thing that happens far too often in the horror genre. Fans are often quick to embrace the idea of seeing their favorite “scream queens” or slasher icons return for new rounds of chaotic violence filled with one-liners, gore, and a possible final chapter to a beloved character’s storyline. As much as…

  • Dima Barch sits on a linen sofa. From the other end of my computer screen, I see his soft eyes, wide smile, and slightly tussled hair as I mess with the settings on Zoom, which has logged me out and won’t let me record. Barch is calm, patiently waiting for me to ask him about…

  • We all go a little mad sometimes. That’s what Psycho’s Norman Bates says anyway. Sure, the original silver screen slasher had his problems and went on to kill a bunch of people after issuing the statement, but on this point, he was indisputably correct. There’s a fire in everyone, and if it’s not ventilated properly,…

  • When someone says folk horror, I’m sure your mind goes to the same places mine does: Robert Eggers, Ari Aster, maybe some Ben Wheatley, and for sure Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man. These director’s films are the peak of folk storytelling. They offer the mystical, the natural, and the terror that all other films will…

  • Aimlessly scrolling through Prime video, desperate for something to take my mind off the ongoing pandemic that halted society and hijacked the news, the graphic design of a bloodstained video game controller dripping into a pool as it hovered above a pixelated title caused me to pause. That was the one. With the clever title…

  • What is your relationship with the macabre like? Some people compartmentalize their love for ghouls and goblins to just the Halloween season, while others find real-world connection in the paranormal by keeping that spirit open all year long. I, myself, am probably among the latter individuals, devouring horror films, books, and games all year long.…

  • Toward the end of 2023, I started hearing the name Baghead a lot. The film played a few fests and had a theatrical run overseas before finding its home at Shudder. The trailer had dropped at the start of December, and I have to admit, I was hyped. It boasted an interesting bit of originality…

  • In 1974, a moment in Liliana Cavani’s The Night Porter made our hearts stop as Charlotte Rampling saw Dirk Bogarde at the desk of the Vienna hotel she was staying in. Any audience watching, knowing what the picture was about, remembers it vividly as it sends Rampling’s character, Lucia, into a spiral of trauma. Bogarde’s…

  • It seems as if we’re celebrating an arachnid Spring in horror this year. Wyrmwood director Kiah Roache-Turner’s Sting is about to spread the creepy crawlies in theaters next week (April 12). Then there’s Chandler Riggs’ horror take on Spider-Man, The Spider, a fan-made film garnering widespread attention for an imminent YouTube direct release. And finally,…