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A Life of Fear: Monsters
Lots of kids are afraid of monsters underneath their beds. I had monsters in the ceiling.When I was about five years old, my parents had ceiling fans installed in the bedrooms of our house. I was...
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A Life of Fear: Stories
Sometimes I think about all the horrifying things I've seen in movies and wonder how they'd add up if I ran the numbers. Just how many deaths have I watched for entertainment? How many dismemberments,...
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A Life of Fear: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
I could probably just say that Mel Stuart's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory scared the crap out of me as a kid and leave it at that, because I know I'm not alone.Class parties in elementary...
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A Life of Fear: The Bélmez Faces
In 1971, in Bélmez, Spain, a housewife named Maria Cámara noticed an image of a human face on the cement floor of her kitchen. The face gazed out impassively and resisted any attempt to wash it away....
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A Life of Fear: Dreams of Scale
I've mentioned once before that in my real-life job is in the field of astrophysics. At its core, my task is to take some of the most massive objects in the galaxy and render them in symbols, code, and...
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A Life of Fear: UFOs and Alien Abduction
The early 90's was a great time to be interested in UFOs, alien abductions, and the paranormal. I can't say what was responsible for the boom of TV shows and movies centered around this theme, but it...
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A Life of Fear: The Exorcist
The Halloween of my freshman year of high school didn't seem like it was going to be anything special. A handful of friends and I had gathered to watch horror movies at my friend's house - let's call...
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A Life of Fear: The Sideshow Attraction
I was familiar with the State Fair scene. I knew the drill. Even though I'd only recently moved to North Carolina, I'd been to similar events when I lived in Minnesota, although they admittedly took...
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YOU'RE NEXT Restores My Faith in Home Invasion
You're Next (2011)Director: Adam WingardRating: 8 / 10Seen via: Raleigh, NC Dollar TheaterNo sooner have I finished bemoaning the limited possibilities of home invasion films than along comes You're...
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7TH DAY: A Blood-Soaked Character Study
7th Day (2012)Director: Jason M. KochSeen via: Digital ScreenerRating: 6 / 10"Hi, I'm Allen, and this is what I do," we're told via voiceover as a man breaks into a woman's house and stabs her in the...
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The Year in Review: 2013
My writing has trickled off somewhat as the year came to a close, but 2013 nevertheless marked the most prolific year I've had here so far. Still, I can't claim to have seen or read even close to...
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The Legend of CROPSEY is More Real Than You Might Imagine
Cropsey (2009)Directors: Joshua Zeman, Barbara BrancaccioSeen via: Netflix InstantRating: 8 / 10When I was a kid, our town home was located on the edge of a small forest. Neighborhood kids, including...
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RESOLUTION: The End is Near (But It's Not the One You're Expecting)
Resolution (2012)Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron MoreheadSeen via: Netflix InstantRating: 6.5 / 10Mike Danube receives a video showing his friend Chris out of his mind on drugs, wandering the...
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Alcohol is the Answer
Grabbers (2012)Director: Jon WrightSeen via: Netflix InstantRating: 6.5 / 10What better way to defeat a blood-sucking monster than to render your blood inedible? When mysterious pods of slime wash up...
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Filling in the Gaps: THE WICKER MAN (1973)
The Wicker Man (1973)Director: Robin HardyRating: 9 / 10Seen via: Retrofantasma, Durham NCThe Wicker Man is one of those films whose story I somehow absorbed without ever having seen firsthand. Who...
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FEAR[S] OF THE DARK: A Study in Light and Shadow
Fear[s] of the Dark (2007)Directors: VariousSeen via: MPI Home Video DVDRating: 6 / 10I've always thought that there's untapped potential in animated horror - what better way to transcend the...
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SIGHTSEERS: Relationships Can Be Murder
Sightseers (2012)Director: Ben WheatleySeen via: Netflix InstantRating: 7.5 / 10Ben Wheatley has proven himself to be one of the more interesting filmmakers to emerge over the past few years, cranking...
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Revisiting RE-ANIMATOR
Re-Animator (1985)Director: Stuart GordonSeen via: Retrofantasma, Durham, NCRating: 9.5/10The last time I watched Re-Animator I was working as a high school teacher. Any critical opinion I had about it...
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BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO: The Giallo is Dead, Long Live the Giallo!
Berberian Sound Studio (2012)Director: Peter StricklandSeen via: Netflix InstantRating: 8.5 / 10Berberian Sound Studio is a film that takes the aesthetics of a dead genre and places them under a...
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Madness and Metafiction
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)Director: John CarpenterSeen via: Retrofantasma, Durham, NCRating: 6.5 / 10I'd heard a lot about In the Mouth of Madness prior to seeing it, mostly by fans using it as an...
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OTHER: "This was never about death."
Other (2012)Director: Daniel DelPurgatorioSeen via: other-themovie.comRuntime: 15 minDaniel DelPurgatorio's Other is a blistering body-horror short about a doctor (David Steiger) stricken with cancer...
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Review: WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? (1974)
What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (1974)(aka La Polizia Chiede Aiuto, or The Police Want Help)Director: Massimo DallamanoSeen via: Anthology Film Archives, NYCMonths-long silences on this site are...
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Review: CALIBER 9 (1972)
Caliber 9 (1972)(aka Milano Calibro 9)Director: Fernando Di LeoSeen via: Anthology Film Archives, NYCCaliber 9 has been sitting on my to-watch list for years, perhaps for all the wrong reasons. Once...
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Review: OCULUS (2013)
Oculus (2013)Director: Mike FlanaganSeen via: Raleigh, NC Dollar TheaterHauntings are usually dangerous only because of what they reveal about those who are haunted. Ghosts are ethereal - they can't...
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Review: ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (1972)
All the Colors of the Dark (1972)(aka Tutti i Colori del Buio) Director: Sergio MartinoJane has problems, to put it mildly. She's troubled by surreal dreams in which grotesque figures lie strapped to...
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