HORROR 101 with Dr. AC

WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? (1976) d. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador (Spain)  Narciso Ibáñez Serrador's taboo-smashing classic, Who Can Kill a Child (1976), is a movie that packs a lethal punch both in terms of onscreen mayhem and intellectual philosophizing.  When a couple of English tourists (Lewis Fiander, Prunella Ransome) arrive on an isolated Spanish island, they begin to discover the mutilated corpses o...

THE BEYOND (1981) d. Lucio Fulci (Italy) THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981) d. Lucio Fulci (Italy) Italian director Lucio Fulci's 1981 pairing of The Beyond and The House by the Cemetery represents perhaps the most beloved period of his career, especially by horror fans. Paradoxically, these films are also why his wider cinematic career is often overlooked. By this point, Fulci was already a veteran...

POSSESSION (1981) d. Andrzej Zulawski (France/West Germany) Tonight, we dive deep into the abyss of challenging cinema with Andrzej Zulawski's Possession (1981). Deliberately abrasive and queasy, the idiosyncratic Polish director's best known film assails its audience from the opening scenes and never lets up for a second, leaving the viewer exhausted, exasperated, and exhilarated. Returning home...

CARRIE (1976) d. Brian De Palma (USA) THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 (1999) d. Katt Shea (USA) CARRIE (2002) d. David Carson (USA) CARRIE (2013) d. Kimberly Peirce (USA) Based on Stephen King's first published novel, 1976's Carrie holds the distinction for being the first filmed adaptation of one of his works. A truly landmark American horror movie that combines supernatural terror with a powerful story about...

THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES (1966) d. John Gilling (UK) THE REPTILE (1966) d. John Gilling (UK) ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. (1966) d. Don Chaffey (UK) THE WITCHES (1966) d. Cyril Frankel (UK) For nearly a decade, Hammer had built its reputation on sumptuous Gothic horror, with mysterious castles, suspicious villagers, and iconic monsters, usually with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing topping the bill. B...

CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH (1986) d. Richard W. Haines / Lloyd Kaufman (USA) CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH PART II: SUBHUMANOID MELTDOWN (1991) d. Eric Louzil (USA) CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH PART III: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SUBHUMANOID (1994) d. Eric Louzil (USA) RETURN OF CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH (2013) d. Lloyd Kaufman (USA) RETURN TO RETURN OF CLASS OF NUKE 'EM HIGH (2017) d. Lloyd Kaufman (USA) POULTRYGEI...

SCREAM (1996) d. Wes Craven (USA) SCREAM 2 (1997) d. Wes Craven (USA) SCREAM 3 (2000) d. Wes Craven (USA) SCRE4M (2011) d. Wes Craven (USA) SCREAM (2022) d. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin/Tyler Gillett (USA) SCREAM VI (2023) d. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin/Tyler Gillet (USA) SCREAM 7 (2026) d. Kevin Williamson (USA) By the mid-1990s, the slasher cycle that had produced Halloween, Friday the 13th, and A Nightmare...

TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1972) d. Amando de Ossorio (Spain/Portugal) RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (1973) d. Amando de Ossorio (Spain) THE GHOST GALLEON (1974) d. Amando de Ossorio (Spain) NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS (1975) d. Amando de Ossorio (Spain) Writer/director Amando de Ossorio's Tombs of the Blind Dead (1972) represented a landmark achievement that introduced an entirely new monster into the genre,...

THE FLY (1986) d. David Cronenberg (USA/Canada) THE FLY II (1989) d. Chris Walas (USA/Canada) After years of building a reputation as a fiercely intelligent filmmaker that deftly combined gooey special effects, challenging technical concepts, and emotional narrative heft, Canadian David Cronenberg finally hit the jackpot in this updating and reimagining of the 1958 classic, The Fly. Rather than th...

RODAN (1956) d. Ishiro Honda (Japan) MOTHRA (1961) d. Ishiro Honda (Japan) Rodan (1956) and Mothra (1961) stand among the most trendsetting films in the history of Japanese cinema, introducing two iconic monsters whose legacies have endured for decades. Produced by Toho, both films expanded upon the success of Godzilla (1954), demonstrating that giant monsters could represent far more than simple...

THE BAD SEED (1956) d. Mervyn LeRoy (USA)  Celebrating the 70th anniversary of The Bad Seed (1956)! Widely regarded as one of the greatest psychological thrillers ever made, this classic horror film introduced audiences to Rhoda Penmark—cinema's original "killer kid" and one of the genre's most unforgettable villains. Join us as we revisit this groundbreaking classic, its remarkable performances b...

GRIZZLY (1976) d. William Girdler (USA) SQUIRM (1976) d. Jeff Lieberman (USA) THE FOOD OF THE GODS (1976) d. Bert I. Gordon (USA) In the wake of Steven Spielberg's Jaws from 1975, drive-ins and hardtop theaters alike were suddenly overrun by creatures with a taste for human flesh. Intrepid and imaginative independent filmmakers proved that almost any member of the animal kingdom could be transform...

FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996) d. Robert Rodriguez (USA) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 2: TEXAS BLOOD MONEY (1999) d. Scott Spiegel (USA) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN 3: THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER (2000) d. P.J. Pesce (USA) FROM DUSK TILL DAWN: THE SERIES (2014-2016) d. Robert Rodriguez (USA) Thirty years ago, From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) kicked open the saloon doors, ordered a round of tequila, and then revealed that everyon...

BLOODY BIRTHDAY (1981) d. Ed Hunt (USA) BLOODY MOON (1981) d. Jess Franco (Spain/Germany) DEADLY BLESSING (1981) d. Wes Craven (USA) DON'T GO IN THE WOODS (1981) d. James Bryan (USA) EYES OF A STRANGER (1981) d. Ken Wiederhorn (USA) FINAL EXAM (1981) d. Jimmy Huston (USA) GRADUATION DAY (1981) d. Herb Freed (USA) NIGHT SCHOOL (1981) d. Ken Hughes (USA) STRANGE BEHAVIOR (1981) d. Michael Laughlin (...

KILL, BABY... KILL! (1966) d. Mario Bava (Italy) A BAY OF BLOOD (1971) d. Mario Bava (Italy) Equal parts conjurer of Gothic nightmares, pioneer of modern cinematic violence, and astonishing visual stylist, Italian filmmaker and horror legend Mario Bava'has delivered so many genre high water marks that it's difficult to keep track. From the black-and-white splendor of Black Sunday to the hypnotic c...

THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF (1961) d. Terence Fisher (UK) SCREAM OF FEAR (aka Taste of Fear) (1961) d. Seth Holt (UK) THE TERROR OF THE TONGS (1961) d. Anthony Bushell (UK) THE SHADOW OF THE CAT (1961) d. John Gilling (UK) While Hammer Films is most often remembered for its Gothic reimaginings of Dracula, Frankenstein, and other classic monsters, the year 1961 showcased an adventurousness and willin...

FRAILTY (2001) d. Bill Paxton (USA) For those who only know beloved actor Bill Paxton from his outrageous comic supporting turns or solid leading man roles, watching him bring Brent Hanley's high concept story to exquisitely shaded light is a bit of a revelation. A mysterious young man, Fenton Meiks (played by Matthew McConaughey) walks into a Texas FBI building and reveals to Agent Doyle (played...

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) d. Tobe Hooper (USA) LEATHERFACE: TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE III (1990) d. Jeff Burr (USA) TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE NEXT GENERATION (1995) d. Kim Henkel (USA) THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (2003) d. Marcus Nispel (USA) THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING (2006) d. Jonathan Liebesman (USA) TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D (2013) d. John Lussenhop (USA) LEATHERFACE (2017)...

THE CRAFT (1996) d. Andrew Fleming (USA) THE CRAFT: LEGACY (2020) d. Zoe Lister-Jones (USA) Directed by Andrew Fleming and written by Peter Filardi, The Craft follows four teenage girls, Sarah (Robin Tunney), Rochelle (Rachel True), Bonnie (Neve Campbell), and Nancy (Fairuza Balk) who form a coven and discover that their growing magical abilities come with consequences. While the film delivers mem...

THE OMEN (1976) d. Richard Donner (USA) DAMIEN: OMEN II (1978) d. Don Taylor (USA) THE FINAL CONFLICT (1981) d. Graham Baker (USA) OMEN IV: THE AWAKENING (1991) d. Jorge Montesi/Dominique Othenin-Girard (USA) THE OMEN (2006) d. John Moore (USA) THE FIRST OMEN (2024) d. Arkasha Stevenson (USA) The success of William Friedkin's The Exorcist in 1973 sparked any number of cheapie imitations, spawning...

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956) d. Don Siegel (USA) INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1978) d. Philip Kaufman (USA) BODY SNATCHERS (1993) d. Abel Ferrara (USA) THE INVASION (2007) d. Oliver Hirschbiegel (USA) The theme of an alien entity occupying or replacing the bodies of those nearest and dearest to us had been utilized in horror cinema throughout the years. But it is producer Walter Wanger...

DUEL (1971) d. Steven Spielberg (USA) Adapted by Richard Matheson from his original short story, Duel follows traveling salesman David Mann (Dennis Weaver) as a routine drive through the California desert turns into a relentless pursuit by a mysterious tanker truck and its unseen driver. Director Steven Spielberg and his expert team exploit that simple premise with remarkable precision. Every stre...

HOMICIDAL (1961) d. William Castle (USA) MR. SARDONICUS (1961) d. William Castle (USA) Few filmmakers in American horror are remembered as vividly—or as superficially—as William Castle. Mention his name and most movie fans immediately think of outrageous theatrical gimmicks: skeletons flying over audiences, theater seats rigged with buzzing devices, or insurance policies handed out in the lobby. B...

THE HOWLING (1981) d. Joe Dante (USA) AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) d. John Landis (UK/USA) In the spring and summer of 1981, werewolf cinema underwent a radical transformation—not through one film, but two. Released just months apart, The Howling and An American Werewolf in London didn't just revive a fading subgenre—they redefined what cinematic horror could look and feel like. Directed...

PAN'S LABYRINTH (2006) d. Guillermo del Toro (Mexico/Spain) Revisiting Guillermo del Toro's metaphorical masterpiece combining dark real-world horror (Franco's civil war-torn Spain) with children's fantasy, it's a little surprising to realize that this, his last Spanish-language movie, was released two decades ago. For me personally, whether directing (Cronos, The Devil's Backbone) or producing (T...