There's a moment in the original Scream — released on December 20, 1996 — that I remember hitting me like a cold splash of water to the face. It's not the opening scene, though that's genuinely one of the greatest sequences in horror history. It's not the reveal of the killers, either. It's a quieter … Continue reading The Rules of Horror: Scream and Its Meta Approach to the Genre
Movie Review
Before the Cape: Supergirl, Sincerity, and Why We Decided to Hate It First
Before Supergirl ever reached theaters, thousands of people had already decided whether it deserved to succeed. That's a strange way to experience stories. Somewhere along the line, we stopped letting movies surprise us and started treating them like arguments we were expected to win. I saw Supergirl this weekend. I thought it was very good. … Continue reading Before the Cape: Supergirl, Sincerity, and Why We Decided to Hate It First
Surviving the Night: The Friday the 13th Saga
There is a specific kind of commitment required to watch all twelve Friday the 13th films. It is not the same commitment demanded by, say, reading Tolstoy or learning a second language. It is more the commitment of a person who has looked at the weekend stretching out before them, sighed contentedly, and decided that … Continue reading Surviving the Night: The Friday the 13th Saga
The Confusing Middle 