Collective Nightmares

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film It’s What’s Inside, written and directed by G. Jardin. This film is closer to the edge of horror than we usually venture, but the premise of the film was interesting enough that we gave it a chance. We hoped the film would explore the component of the sociological imagination that stresses the significa...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the classic 1979 David Cronenberg film The Brood. This is another film in our mini-series related to pregnancy and women’s bodies. We thought it would be interesting to include a film from a different era that addresses these topics. The post The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Birth Rebirth. This is another film in our mini-series related to pregnancy and women’s bodies. We had some disagreement on this one especially with regard to dominant versus contested readings of the film as it relates to it's possible messaging on fetal tissue and abortion. The post Birth/Rebirth (Mos...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Immaculate. We couldn’t help but make significant comparisons to The First Omen, both released during the spring of 2024. Both address conservative religious control of women’s bodies, though one does significantly better than the other. The post Immaculate (Mohan 2024) appeared first on Collective Nigh...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Red Rooms. Ostensibly this is a film about the dark web phenomemon of the titular red rooms. Oddly, the film did not actually offer any insight into red rooms. Nevertheless, we enjoyed watching it but can’t say we recommend it. The post Red Rooms (Plante 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 rendition of the film Nosferatu, written and directed by Robert Eggers. Eggers has proven to be a master of aesthetic, encourage excellent performances from actors, and captivating dialogue. However, we have real concerns about his choices for the character arcs of women characters. We also are critical of h...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 1980 film Cruising, written and directed by William Friedkin. This is such a fascinating film and well worth watching. The film focuses on the communities of young single gay men in NYC, and was made during the brief few years post Stonewall and before significant awareness of AIDS. The post Cruising (Friedkin 19...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Heretic. An intensely set, brilliantly acted, and well written intellectually fascinating beginning, devolves into a fetid pile of Mormon propaganda. Or does it? Some discussion of the film I Saw the TV Glow is also included. The post Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman of the Hour. We are generally fans of Kendrick and appreciate the effort at an original take within the serial killer sub-genre. However this film plays it too safe and in doing so rendered the film adequate rather than notable. The post Woman of the Hour (Kendrick 2023) appear...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the film Strange Darling (Mollner 2023). Brilliantly constructed, acted, and executed! A fabulous film full of challenges to viewer expectations. The post Strange Darling (Mollner 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the breakout second film from Fargeat’s 2024 film The Substance. The film addresses topics of gender, aging, and the Hollywood expectations for appearance. The post The Substance (Fargeat 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the third Quiet Place film. Laura and Marshall agreed that this is another film shoehorned into the Quiet Place universe. Laura was relieved it wasn’t another typical Quiet Place film, while Marshall was aggravated by it. Laura also appreciated a number of the film choices, Marshall further found it just summarily un...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Oz Perkins’ 2024 film Longlegs. While we appreciate Perkins’ efforts to produce modern Brothers Grimm style fairy tales, we just don’t find this film successful. It is another in the disheartening trend of horror films that are just “vibes.” They lack any real scare power because of the superficial nature of the char...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the epics of sci-fi cinema Alien directed by Ridley Scott in 1979), and Aliens directed by James Cameron in 1986. For us, the films still hold up both in subtext, messaging, and representation especially given their original production dates. The post Alien (Scott 1979) and Aliens (Cameron 1986) appeared first on Col...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film Abigail. Directed by Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett who have made very solid Scream requels and the excellent Ready or Not, we had high hopes. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. The post Abigail (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Cairnes and Cairnes 2023 critically acclaimed, indie horror hit, Late Night with the Devil. While entertaining the film is a cess pool of sexist tropes and conspiracy theory validation. The post Late Night with the Devil appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Lanthimos' 2023 highly regarded, and possibly horror adjacent film, Poor Things. The post Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Peckover's 2016 psychological thriller film, Better Watch Out. The post Better Watch Out (Peckover 2016) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of McG's 2017 film The Babysitter. The post The Babysitter (McG 2017) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the most recent installation in the Evil Dead franchise Evil Dead Rise. Well constructed and entertaining, and featuring some challenges to some of the tired tropes of possession films, ultimately the film is ideologically sloppy and overall still problematic. The post Evil Dead Rise (Cronin 2023) appeared first on C...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the reboot of Raimi's Evil Dead. Recorded live with the Sociology Club at CU Boulder, we discuss the pitfalls of gender and the pleasant surprise of a possession film centering siblings rather than a heterosexual couple. The post Evil Dead (Alvarez 2013) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey. The single most trite, banal, incompetent series of images we have watched since we started this podcast in 2017. Don't watch this film. It's not good bad, or bad good, it's just abject dross. The post Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey (Frake Waterfield 2023) appeared first on Collectiv...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the Omen prequel The First Omen (Stevenson 2024). The film prompted an intense discussion of the Catholic Church, social progress, pregnancy, and difficult decisions. An overall very impressive horror film. We look forward to the follow up. The post The First Omen (Stevenson 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightma...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the European horror film Piggy. This film features a phenomenal performance by a new actress and contributes to the body of films that challenge and implicate us as viewers to consider what we are watching and why. The post Piggy (Perada 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of West's first film in his wildly ambitious horror trilogy, X. This film sparked a conversation about the state of the slasher sub-genre, cross gender identification in a post-gender world, and the elderly representation in horror. The post X (West 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .