HORROR AND FANTASY WRITER
There’s a moment in the horror movie Solitude when Kara, a contestant on a survival competition show, stares despairingly into her camera and repeats, “I’m going to die out here!” However, after she looks at her daughter’s photograph, she says, “I’m not going to die out here.” Her resolve strengthened, Kara looks outside her shelter... Continue Reading →
Sorry, Charlie is one of the best horror movies I've watched in 2023. Billed as a Tubi Original and inspired by true events, the low-budget film is a well-executed no-filler thriller with a killer finale. From the opening 911 call by a woman who hears a baby crying outside her home to the surprising revelations that comprise... Continue Reading →
Sick is everything I want in a slasher film. A plot grounded in reality, furiously fast pacing, multiple twists, and protagonists you can root for all clocking in at a perfectly lean 83 minutes. Released Jan. 13 on the streaming platform Peacock, Sick is set in April 2020 during the uncertain early weeks of the... Continue Reading →
The title of the new Halloween film now in theaters should've been Laurie Strode vs. Michael Myers. That sums up this sequel set 40 years after the original 1978 classic. Jamie Lee Curtis reprises her role as Laurie, the victimized teen prey of the original. Four decades later, Laurie is an agoraphobic prepper waiting for... Continue Reading →
Ten years between films is too long for a horror sequel, which may be why THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT tanked at the box office when it was released in March. By every metric, the original tops the sequel. THE STRANGERS more than doubled PREY AT NIGHT's ticket sales ($52.5 million vs. $24.5 million); received... Continue Reading →
The low-budget horror thriller DESOLATION is one of those movies that I wanted to like a lot but ended up liking only some. Distributed by IFC Midnight and available on Netflix, DESOLATION follows grieving widow Abby, her young teenage son Sam, and her best friend Jen on a camping trip to a mountaintop where they... Continue Reading →
The post-apocalyptic zombie movie CARGO is not about the apocalypse or zombies. Released by Netflix, CARGO is a film about a father searching for someone -- anyone -- to care for his baby daughter. Starring Martin Freeman (THE HOBBIT, THE OFFICE) as Andy, CARGO is a family drama more concerned about what you would do... Continue Reading →
REVENGE is a brutal rape-revenge action movie written and directed by a woman who injects her hero-victim with a mythic will to survive. French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat stylishly directs a female empowerment film filled with the bloody violence but without the excessive sadism of other more extreme rape-revenge movies. The plot is simple and straightforward.... Continue Reading →
Shudder exclusive STILL/BORN is a well-crafted psychological horror film about a young mother who's either suffering from postpartum depression or dealing with a demon's designs on her newborn son. Directed by Brandon Christensen, STILL/BORN opens with the heartbreaking hospital scene of a mother named Mary losing one of her twins in childbirth. The next scene... Continue Reading →
Shudder exclusive DOWNRANGE is a gritty survival horror film set on a lonely road in the middle of nowhere. The plot is simple. Three men and three women are sharing a ride when the tire on their SUV blows out. Stranded without a reliable cell phone signal, they plan to change the tire and drive to... Continue Reading →
LIONEL RAY GREEN 