Collective Nightmares

Slaxx (Kephart 2020) Kephart’s Slaxx breathes life and death (lots of death) into a seemingly absurd subject: murderous jeans. Balancing fit and function, the film is expertly crafted, fun, and presents important social commentary on fast fashion, greenwashing, and globalization. Slaxx stands in stark contrast to the tedious, surrealist gimmicks and pretension of a film … Continue read...

Teeth (Lichtenstein 2007) This episode we discuss the notorious 2007 film Teeth. While most likely well-intentioned the film is progressive but also problematic with regard to sexuality.  Listen in for the details. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Teeth (Lichtenstein 2007) TOPIC INDEX – Teeth (Lichtenstein 2007) (times are approximate)  0:35 – Introductions 3:52 – Discussion begins &#823...

Funny Games (Haneke 1997) Haneke‘s Funny Games hold a special place in Marshall’s heart.  It is the last film he got to watch with his brother Carson before he passed away. And it is exactly the kind of film they loved: heady, shocking, challenging, bizarre, and expertly crafted. Laura and Marshall revisit it to discuss … Continue reading "Funny Games (1997)" The post Funny Games...

Eden Lake (Watkins 2008) This episode we discuss the 2008 British horror film Hidden Lake where our discussion ranges from the social contract, to classism, to gender. The film explores the age-old question of just what one’s options are when a group of people nearby are being absolute jerks? We found that our reactions to … Continue reading "Eden Lake (2008)" The post Eden Lake (2008)...

Podcast hosts Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, interview Zack Parker about his films, Inexchange (2006), Quench (2007), Scalene (2011), and Proxy (2013), as well as his graphic novel The Cure (2020) about living in the time of COVID19. The post Zack Parker (2020) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Proxy (Parker 2013) The fourth in our mini-series devoted to the films of Zack Parker.  Proxy is a shocking, ambitious, and unique independent horror film. It is a rare film that we compare favorably to our exemplar Martyrs (Laugier 2008). Next up we talk to Zack himself about all of his films thus far! Be … Continue reading "Proxy (2013)" The post Proxy (2013) appeared first on Collective N...

Scalene (Parker 2011) Our mini-series devoted to the films of Zack Parker! His films fall distinctly into two halves and with Scalene begins the latter half of his movies thus far. His evolution as a filmmaker becomes obvious here as this film far exceeds his prior two efforts. This led to a sticky and difficult … Continue reading "Scalene (2011)" The post Scalene (2011) appeared first on Co...

Inexchange (Parker 2007) The second episode in our mini-series devoted to the films of Zack Parker! His four films fall distinctly into two halves. We discuss the first two films first, this episode covers his first film Inexchange (2007). The first two films, including this one, were made on a shoestring budget and are more … Continue reading "Inexchange (2006)" The post Inexchange (2006) a...

Quench (Parker 2007) Thus begins our mini-series devoted to the films of Zack Parker! His four films fall distinctly into two halves. We discuss the first two films first, starting here with his second film Quench (2007). The first two films, including this one, were made on a shoestring budget and are more interesting in … Continue reading "Quench (2007)" The post Quench (2007) appeared fir...

Swallow (Mirabella-Davis 2019) SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Swallow (Mirabella-Davis 2019 2019) TOPIC INDEX – Swallow (Mirabella-Davis 2019) (times are approximate)  0:35 – Introductions 5:30 – Discussion begins 5:30 – Viewing context: COVID19 and Marshall’s anxiety 9:37 – The thumbtack 14:36 – Being scared (emotional experience of the film) 18:00 – Use of col...

Dark Waters (Haynes 2019) Dark Waters is based on the true story of Dupont knowingly poisoning a community and ultimately the world for decades. The guiding question for us with this film is: is this a horror film? Arguably not typically considered one, this begs another question: why not? In terms of horrific actions, the … Continue reading "Dark Waters (2019)" The post Dark Waters (2019) a...

The Platform (Gaztelu-Urrutia 2019) The Platform is lean, mean machine of a film. It is built around a deceptively simple premise. From that, the film explores fun and fundamental questions about social control, the social contract, and how to accomplish social change in a rigged social structure. A testament to accomplishing so much with a … Continue reading "The Platform (2019)" The post T...

Fantasy Island (Wadlow 2019) In a bizarre meta twist, the film Fantasy Island reflects the fantasies of the island: at first it is everything you ever wanted, but soon you end up in a mess you didn’t expect. It is a fun watch, but at watch price? As with the ancient people of Easter Island, … Continue reading "Fantasy Island (2019)" The post Fantasy Island (2019) appeared first on Collective...

Come to Daddy (Timpson 2019) The most divided Laura and Marshall have been regarding a film in some time. Marshall hated it. Laura loved it. Is it an indictment of the corrosive impacts of toxic masculinity? Or a sloppy mess of a film that embraces toxic masculinity as a means of repairing men’s relationships? Listen … Continue reading "Come to Daddy (2019)" The post Come to Daddy (201...

Knives and Skin (Reeder 2019) For this episode we held two discussions of the film. For the first we were joined by two students, Audrey and Andi. For the second we were joined by Keenan and Sophie. We first want to thank them for their time and thoughts. This film is unique. Knives and Skin … Continue reading "Knives and Skin (2019)" The post Knives and Skin (2019) appeared first on Collect...

It Comes at Night (Shults 2017) Another credit to Laura’s ambition, for this episode we revisit It Comes at Night (Shults 2017). A film that was extraordinary the first time and is even more impactful given we are recording on the upslope of the COVID19 pandemic in the United States. This film tackles the core … Continue reading "It Comes At Night (2017)" The post It Comes At Night (20...

Hansel & Gretel (Yim 2007) and Gretel & Hansel (Perkins 2020) A credit to Laura’s ambition, we view and discuss two films for this episode. Both are modern dark fairy tales, a fascinating sub-genre of horror. Despite these similarities, otherwise the films are not at all connected or related. The Yim film was ultimately the … Continue reading "Hansel & Gretel (2007) and Gr...

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, discuss the sociology of horror films in depth. The episode focuses on The Soska Sisters newest film in the body horror genre, a reboot of Cronenberg's 1977 classic, Rabid. This is a hugely under-rated horror film of 2019!  The post Rabid (2019) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Black Christmas (Takal 2019) Black Christmas is Marshall’s favorite horror film of 2019! It is directly comparable to Get Out in terms of outstanding craft and concept. Sadly it received a limited release. Takal both wrote and directed the film. We will be returning to her earlier film Always Shine soon because this was so … Continue reading "Black Christmas (2019)" The post Black Chri...

Doctor Sleep (Flanagan 2019) Doctor Sleep is well shot and well paced, as we expect from Mike Flanagan. However, he cannot save a fatally flawed concept. This sequel to The Shining is unnecessary and it shows. While there is progress in terms of gender, age, and racial diversity, the film unfortunately also demonizes the poor … Continue reading "Doctor Sleep (2019)" The post Doctor Sleep (20...

3 From Hell (Zombie 2019) Zombie is back again, as zombies tend to do. Unfortunately, this Zombie (film) is a slow, tired, rehash rather than anything new or interesting. Zombie still has a strong sense of style, but there is little else here to keep interest other than the viewer’s nostalgia for the first two … Continue reading "3 From Hell (2019)" The post 3 From Hell (2019) appeared...

Crawl (Aja 2019) Lurking under our radar were creature features! We’ve risen to the occasion and dug into Alexandre Aja’s Crawl. While it does not have much social commentary, Crawl is an entertaining, well-made, jaunt with solid suspense and even a few jump scares. It features a very capable woman protagonist and some decent gore … Continue reading "Crawl (2019)" The post Crawl...

The Collective Nightmares podcast, sociologists talk horror. Marshall Smith, PhD and Laura Patterson PhD, discuss the 2019 film Ma directed by Tate Taylor and starring Octavia Spencer. The post Midsommar (2019) appeared first on Collective Nightmares .

Cannibal Holocaust (Deodata 1980) This episode we found a copy of the uncensored, undedited version of the classic Cannibal Holocaust. With a reputation for gore and publicity, this film sparked an intensely intellectual discussion of representation, ethics, realism, and meta-commentary in films. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE TOPIC INDEX – Cannibal Holocaust (Deodato 1980) (times are approximate)...

The Perfection (Shepard 2018)   This episode was a wild card pick after Amazon Prime subtitles for Cannibal Holocaust failed us. Look for a future episode on that film. We went in cold and ended up being super impressed with the film. Using Laura’s strategy of looking for divisive films we dove in and are … Continue reading "The Perfection (2018)" The post The Perfection (2018) ap...