In Renny Harlin’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (read our retro review here), Freddy Krueger obviously returns. This time, however, he seems oddly less interested in vengeance against teenagers and their families. Instead, he’s more of a wisecracking party animal. And why not make Freddy more fabulous …
Read More »Tragedy As Entertainment: 10 Tragic Tales That We Love (1925-1980)
Tragic stories have been a part of entertainment from the very beginning. Just look at Shakespeare, whose tales were permeated with tragedy. When the advent of cinema added to the thrills and chills of it all, the action was taken beyond the stage, immortalizing performances. Not all of the tragic …
Read More »Freddy Krueger: How His Evil Evolved #3 – ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors’ (1987)
One of horror’s greatest Part IIIs, Chuck Russell’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987 – read our retro review here) is largely successful for expanding upon Freddy’s backstory, broadening his powers and exploring the mental architecture of the dreamscape. By this point in the series, Freddy Krueger …
Read More »Anthology Flashback #4: Mario Bava’s ‘Black Sabbath’ (1963)
Consisting of three separate tales, Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath is a considerably a more influential picture than you might think. For starters, it was one of the first horror films Bava was involved with, just after I Vampiri/Lust of the Vampire (1957), Black Sunday (1960) and Caltiki – The Immortal …
Read More »Depths of Depravity: 10 Memorable, Freaky Films
Horror movies aren’t always solely meant to enlighten or even entertain. Sometimes, they’re depraved. They scare us, get us to tense up, or even make us nauseous. While not every film on this list qualifies as a gore extravaganza or even horror, they are definitely depraved to a significant degree. …
Read More »Freddy Krueger: How His Evil Evolved #2 — ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge’
Even before Jack Sholder’s A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, Freddy’s character and powers were a bit confusing. This was, after all, an undead deviant who could attack and kill people in their dreams. By his very nature, Freddy messes with reality, threatening to overturn conventional logic. That …
Read More »Anthology Flashback #3: ‘The Twilight Zone’ (1959-64)
One needn’t mince words about it: The Twilight Zone (read our retro review here) is one of the greatest sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology series ever to grace people’s living rooms. In fact, the CBS show was so well done, it’s almost shocking that it originally only lasted 5 seasons. In any case, …
Read More »Freddy Krueger: How His Evil Evolved #1 – ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ (1984)
Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is known as many things: A dirty child murderer called “The Springwood Slasher,” a burnt-faced psychopath, a dream demon and the “bastard son of a hundred maniacs.” He is also the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise’s primary villain and a pop culture icon. Freddy has joined …
Read More »Anthology Flashback #2: ‘One Step Beyond’ (1959–1961)
“What you are about to see is a matter of human record. Explain it: we cannot. Disprove it: we cannot. We simply invite you to explore with us the amazing world of the unknown… to take that One Step… Beyond.” ?— John Newland, host of ABC’s One Step Beyond Once …
Read More »‘Wes Craven’s New Nightmare’ 25th Anniversary: Strengths and Weaknesses
Originally released on October 14, 1994, Wes Craven’s New Nightmare offered a fresh, daring take on the Freddy Krueger character… or something like it. You see, New Nightmare is technically a Freddy movie, yet it definitely isn’t. The villain is actually an entity that takes the form of Freddy, because it …
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