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 such as Rubber (DuPie...

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 7:30...

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 the representation of suffering and violence, the intellectual ch...

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 the film said as much about us, and our different access to gender pr...

Proxy Zack Parker Interview The final episode in our mini-series devoted to the films of Zack Parker where we talk to Zack himself! Zack spoke with us for a full hour and a half on his films, his new graphic novel The Cure , and the challenges of creating indy horror films even when you’ve made a number of successful films. If you are an indy horror film fan this is a great opportunity to he...

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 sure to watch his films and listen to these episodes so you are ready for our conversation....

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 discussion of consent, morality, care, and the road to hell being paved with good inte...

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 interesting in terms of seeing his development and trajectory as a filmma...

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 terms of seeing his development and trajectory as a filmmaker. SPOILERS IN...

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 mass effects of pollution are for us at or near the top of the list. SPOILE...

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 limited budget and artifice. Gaztelu-Urrutia is a directo...

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, the film attempts to over-harvest itself and doesn’t know how to resolve the resulting decline until it ends...

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 and decide for yourself. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Come to Daddy (Timpson 20...

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 is ambitious, beautiful, and laudable for the diversity of age, sexuality, ethnicity, as well as including numerous interesting and under...

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 precepts of the social contract, stability, and trust. Sparing the errors of unnec...

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 better film, by Perkins’ version had merit as well. SP...

Rabid (Soska Sisters 2019) Rabid marks the newest feature from the cult favorite Soska Sisters. (If you haven’t watched their other films, Dead Hooker in a Trunk (2009), and, American Mary (2012), you totally should!) The Twisted Twins share both Canadian heritage, and body horror genre heritage, with David Cronenberg, who directed the original Rabid in 1977. They finely balance updating thi...

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 impressive. Takal managed to wrap a slasher film around feminist poli...

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 and valorizes the upper-middle class. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE TOPIC IND...

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 films. This third film unnecessarily makes this a trilogy that would have been bet...

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 as well. It is what it is. If you enjoy films like Lak...

Midsommar (Aster 2019) A film with incredibly well written dialogue, superb acting, gorgeous cinematography. With these impressive external pieces and a pretense of depth, altogether the film remains superficial spectacle. For Marshall this was a glass half empty; disappointment because there was so much under-utilized potential. For Laura this was a glass half full; appreciation of the bones that...

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 approximat...

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 glad we did. Prominent themes in our discussion this episode include cycles of abu...