• The Strangers: Chapter 1 Retreads Very Familiar Ground

    I’m a big fan of the Strangers franchise. Like many horror fans, I love the original 2008 film, and I even like the sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night. So when I first heard that a reboot trilogy was in the works, I felt a bit conflicted. On the one hand, I’m always up for…

  • The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Bad Taste (S5E4)

    It’s no secret that there are strange goings on within the perimeters of Skinwalker Ranch. The previous four seasons of The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch have provided staggering and irrefutable evidence of something. One thing that ranch owner Brandon Fugal has made clear time and time again is that he’s NOT saying there is clear-cut…

  • Alienoid: Return to the Future Is a Rip-Roaring Blend of Fantasy and Sci-Fi

    If you’re a fan of bizarre mashups of fantasy, sci-fi, action, and comedy, you need to know about the Alienoid duology. The first film, Alienoid, is an absurdly fun time-jumping adventure that blends all four genres in just about the best way possible, but it doesn’t stand alone. It ends on a cliffhanger that cries…

  • SHF2024: The People’s Joker is the Queer Coming-of-Age Comicsploitation Comedy You Never Knew You Always Wanted

    In the midst of preparing for the 2022 Fantasia Film Festival, one film stood out above many others. Fantasia always has its impressive share of science fiction, horror, and genre films, yet Vera Drew’s trans-superhero and metaphoric fable, The People’s Joker, was one that I, and I think a lot of other critics had at…

  • Rosman Breathes Virtue into New Life

    When John Rosman’s New Life premiered at Fantasia last August, it was one of those movies I knew I wanted to see. I love science-fiction films, and this one was playing it pretty close to the chest, providing a very limited synopsis and only a couple of pictures to go on. JP Nunez won the…

  • The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch: Dead in the Water (S5E3)

    In an anomalous turn of events, it seems as if the History Channel realized audiences would feel a bit lackluster after Holy Cow and decided to make Season 5 Episode 3: Dead in the Water, jam-packed with excitement. As I mentioned in What’s Up?, The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch usually follows a structural pattern of…

  • The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: Live (or Undead) on Stage (and YouTube)!

    I’ve written quite extensively on horror comedy musicals. In fact, I’ve written a horror comedy musical, Brides! (You can get an album of select songs from the show, Brides (World Premiere Sneak Peek), wherever you stream or buy music online!) Whether you like musicals or not, whether you like horror or not, The Guy Who…

  • SHF2024: Giving Up the Ghost Game

    Jill Gevargizian’s The Stylist was one of the most delightful surprises of 2020. Outside of Sweeney Todd, we hadn’t really seen a hairstylist killer, which gave the film an original feeling. Not to mention there were two fantastic performances from Najarra Townsend and Brea Grant. Gevargizian, who is a trained hair stylist, put a lot…

  • Five Underseen Vampire Movies You Need to Check Out

    It’s probably an exaggeration to say that vampire movies are the foundation of the horror genre, but it’s closer to the truth than you might think. Arguably the greatest silent horror film of all time, Nosferatu, is about a vampire, and vampire movies helped kick off the golden ages of both Universal Studios and Hammer…

  • SHF2024: Sweet Relief is a Bitter Pill of Small Town Chaos

    My favorite horror concepts are always the ones that are right in your face, and writer-director Nick Verdi’s Sweet Relief is abundantly that. A slow roll of suburban moral panic, Verdi paints the Rockwellian portrait of a sleepy small town and fills it with uproar over a viral internet challenge. It’s a song we’ve all…