Movies in the Horror genre

Smile 2 takes the ideas and aesthetic of the original Smile and doubles down on them. Unlike many horror sequels, which come across as watered-down retreads of their predecessors, Smile 2 uses the first installment as a jumping-off point for a sto...

Samuel L. Jackson is on record as saying this movie isn't for critics. He's right about that. The problem is, it's not for many other people, either. Unless they're stoned. Or drunk. Or just enjoy making fun of bad movies (in other words, the M...

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes: Macbeth Act IV, Scene 1 The cliché goes like this: They don’t make ‘em like they used to. And, at least in the case of Something Wicked This Way Comes, ne’er a truer wor...

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a popular thriller trope in which a character (or group of characters) would form a connection with a stranger (or strangers) but, over time, the actions and motivations of one character would turn murderous....

The villain of Species -- a new science fiction/action/thriller/gorefest from director Roger Donaldson -- is a sexy young alien named Sil (Natasha Henstridge). For most of the film, her primary problem is a massive case of sexual frustration. Eve...

It’s very difficult to kill a slasher film franchise. The existence of Spiral is proof that, no matter how many times you put down a series like this, it keeps coming back for more. The original Saw reached theaters in 2004 and, as I wrote i...

Unimaginative horror movies are a dime a dozen, but overlong, boring, unimaginative horror movies? Those are rare. However, in Split, that’s what writer/director M. Night Shyamalan has provided the early 2017 movie-going populace. Since his suc...

Spoilers (including revelations about the ending)!By 1987, the (first) slasher-film craze had reached its apex. Proven box office winners because of their gory appeal, slashers could be made for next-to-nothing and almost always turned a profi...

Stir of Echoes belongs to one of the oldest genres of horror films: the ghost story. And, unlike a multitude of subpar entries that have borne this appellation over the years, it's mostly effective. Like all good ghost stories, it understands tha...

Buried deep within the DNA of Dee Snider’s Strangeland are some ideas about body modification as a way of life and spiritual enlightenment. And, for the time when it was made (1998), a few of its plot points about on-line predation could be cons...