The Lawnmower Man (1992)

“Virtual Reality is the key to unlocking the human mind!” I had not watched The Lawnmower Man (1992) from start to finish, but I always felt like I had absorbed it as a teenager through osmosis due to constant repeats on Channel Ten; I also remember boys in high school talking about the sex scenes […]

The New Kids (1985)

The New Kids (1985) is a better poster than a movie. Along with the VHS cover to Class Of 1999, this was a poster that I became obsessed with, the teen gang horror vibes, on the level of an illustrated paperback cover, the heightened drama and off-frame implication. The movie itself, which sets its climax […]

Dracula (1931)

Sometimes you’ve gotta go back to the original spooky source. Seeing Bela Lugosi in The Black Cat made me realise I’d never seen his portrayal of Dracula (1931), the very role that made him a star and a horror icon. The performance, and Lugosi’s Hungarian accent, looms so large over pop culture, everything from Sesame […]

Messiah Of Evil (1973)

I was keen to see Messiah Of Evil (1973) as it had often been compared to Carnival Of Souls, a low-budget horror movie that I’ve come to love because of the atmosphere it creates. Like in Carnival Of Souls, a close up on a suspicious, evil person in Messiah Of Evil might reveal bad, cheap […]

Night Of The Demons (1988)

I found Night Of The Demons (1988) a lot of fun even before the demons show up. With a classic horror movie set-up – a bunch of teens decide to party on Halloween night at an abandoned crematorium called Hull House – the characters are all teen cliches archetypes dialled up to cartoonish levels. There’s […]