- Horror Movie - Horror Homeroom

A woman's face is distorted as she looks through a key hole.

Posted on January 23, 2025

Down the Rabbit Hole: Talking The Substance (2024)

Podcast

With multiple Academy Award nominations under its belt, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) is one of the most talked-about films of the year. Fusing body horror with a feminist twist, the film follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a Hollywood star celebrating her fiftieth birthday. When she is unexpectedly released from her contract by network executives who suddenly deem her too old to host her long-running aerobics show, Elisabeth turns to “The Substance,” a secret serum that promises to rejuvenate her appearance by generating a younger version of herself, named Sue (Margaret Qualley). But as the two grow to resent each other, it becomes clear that perfection comes with a cost. With awards buzz and an imminent second theatrical run, The Substance is connecting with audiences and critics alike. But is the hype earned? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

A man and a woman look down into a manhole to the sewer below.

Posted on June 4, 2024

Are all creature features the same?: Talking The Great Alligator (1979) and Alligator (1980)

Podcast

In today’s episode, it’s creature feature, B-movie summer horror with 1979’s The Great Alligator and 1980s’s Alligator. Despite their very different settings, both films lean into the carnage caused by their snappy, tail-spinning reptilian monsters while simultaneously suggesting that the true villains are more of the two legged variety. But do their eco-critical considerations resonate with today’s audiences? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

Recommended Reading:

Bould, Mark. The Cinema of John Sayles: Lone Star (Wallflower Press, 2009)

Gambin, Lee. Massacred by Mother Nature: The Natural Horror Film (Midnight Marquee Press, 2012).

Jones, Matthew. “Antagonistic Nature: The Loss of Anthropocentric Authority in Eco-Horror of the 1970s and 80s.” Supernatural Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2021, pp. 33–47.

Mann, Craig. “America, Down the Toilet: Urban Legends, American Society and Alligator,” in Animal Horror Cinema, edited by Katarina Gregersdotter, Johan Hoglund, and Nicklas Hallen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), pp. 110-25.

The Great Alligator has just got a 2-disc 4K UHD DVD special release from Severin Films.

Two men look at a painting of an old time, bloodied sea captain.

Posted on February 21, 2024

Gothic Decay: Talking House of Usher (1960)

Podcast

In today’s episode, Vincent Price helms House of Usher, a dark tale of decay inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s 1839 short story “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Released in 1960 as the first in the Corman-Poe cycle of films, the film follows Phillip as he visits the Usher mansion in the hopes of convincing his runaway fiance, Madeline, to return to him. But his efforts are continually thwarted by Madeline’s brother, Roderick, who warns Phillip that marriage to Madeline will result in total, personal destruction. Merging elements of the gothic sensibility that marked Poe’s illustrative career with a specific brand of 1960s film affect, House of Usher is a surprisingly overlooked film in the gothic horror canon. But should it be? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned!

Recommended Reading:

Avelar, Mário. “The Colors of Melancholy in Roger Corman’s House of Usher.” The Edgar Allan Poe Review 11.1 (2010): 174-181.

Hendershot, Cyndy. “Domesticity and Horror in House of Usher and Village of the Damned.” Quarterly Review of Film & Video 17.3 (2000): 221-227.

Reyes, Xavier Aldana. “Gothic Horror Film, 1960—Present.” The Gothic World. Routledge, 2013. 388-398.

St. Armand, Barton Levi. “Poe’s Landscape of the Soul: Association Theory and” The Fall of the House of Usher”.” Modern Language Studies (1977): 32-41.

Thompson, James. “Alternative Treasures: The Fall of the House of Usher and The Terror within Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle.” Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture 6.1 (2021): 168-190.

Nancy is threatened by Freddy Kruegar, a monster with razors on his hand.

Posted on January 25, 2024

Born Bad?: Talking A Nightmare on Elm Street 1 & 3

Elizabeth Erwin/ Podcast

In today’s episode, “one, two, Freddy’s coming for you” in Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and Chuck Russell’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). In the original 1984 release, a group of teens attempt to outsmart Freddy Krueger, a supernatural killer who stalks them in their dreams. In the 1987 sequel, a band of institutionalized teens attempt to defeat Krueger and save the life of an innocent by intentionally entering Dreamland together to dire consequences. Aided by one of the most famous monsters in horror film canon, the films are considered essential viewing for fans of the slasher film, but is there more to this franchise than gore and Freddy’s razor sharp wit? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.

Recommended Reading

Christensen, Kyle. “The Final Girl versus Wes Craven’s” A Nightmare on Elm Street”: Proposing a Stronger Model of Feminism in Slasher Horror Cinema.” Studies in Popular Culture 34.1 (2011): 23-47.

Gill, Pat. “The monstrous years: Teens, slasher films, and the family.” Journal of Film and Video 54.4 (2002): 16-30.

Heba, Gary. “Everyday Nightmares: The Rhetoric of Social Horror in the Nightmare on Elm Street Series.” Journal of Popular Film and Television 23.3 (1995): 106-115.

Kendrick, James. “Razors in the Dreamscape: Revisiting” A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the Slasher Film.” Film Criticism 33.3 (2009): 17-33.

Nowell, Richard. Blood money: A history of the first teen slasher film cycle. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2010.

Podoshen, Jeffrey Steven. “Home is Where the Horror Is: Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left and A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 35.7 (2018): 722-729.

Shimabukuro, Karra. “The Bogeyman of Your Nightmares: Freddy Krueger’s Folkloric Roots.” Studies in Popular Culture 36.2 (2014): 45-65.

Two movie posters. One shows a masked assailant sticking a knife in a snow globe. The second shows a girl holding a knife while a boy stands next to her.

Posted on December 20, 2023

Christmas Horror: Talking Better Watch Out (2016) and It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)

Elizabeth Erwin/ Podcast

In today’s episode, festive cheer gets a bloody makeover in Chris Peckover’s Better Watch Out (2016) and Tyler MacIntyre’s It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023). A subgenre of horror that turns beloved seasonal traditions into nightmarish fodder, Christmas horror is rife with malevolent Santas, homicidal elves, and many, many angry snowmen. But what happens when the source of the horror in these films takes a much more human form? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.