Category: Nightmother

Christine Returns in New John Carpenter Directed Music Video

Christine Returns in New John Carpenter Directed Music Video

Posted by | Sep 13, 2017 | , |

John Carpenter has returned to filmmaking! Well, sorta. The John Carpenter compilation album, John Caprtenter Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998, is being released by Sacred Bones in October. To commemorate the occasion John Carpenter directed a music video this his Christine theme. This marks the master of horror’s first narrative film work since 2010’s The Ward. While it may only a little over four minutes, it’s a wonderful treat, and enough to make us clamor for more Carpenter content.   Hopefully there will be more Carpenter music videos for some of his classic themes still to come! You can pre-order the...

Read More
IT Forces Us to Come to Terms With the Horror of Nostalgia

IT Forces Us to Come to Terms With the Horror of Nostalgia

Posted by | Sep 8, 2017 | , |

Overview: A group of kids band together over the course of a summer to defeat an ultimate evil disguised as a clown. Warner Bros; 2017; Rated R; 135 minutes. Want a Balloon?: Fear. It’s something that many of us encounter every day in some way or another, and in 2017 that’s particularly true. There are very real-world, concrete fears that pull at us, weigh us down, and sometimes sink us. So many of our best modern horror movies speak to that fact, so much so that even the supernatural becomes grounded, a reflection of our modern societal anxieties. This...

Read More
Unlock the Trailer for Insidious: The Last Key

Unlock the Trailer for Insidious: The Last Key

Posted by | Sep 6, 2017 | , |

Here’s the first trailer for Adam Robitel’s (concluding?) chapter of the Indisidious franchsie, Insidious: The Last Key. Admittedly, I’ve fallen a bit behind on the Insidious franchise, having missed the third entry, but I’m a big fan of the first two. But after this trailer, I’m ready to catch up and prepare myself for Adam Robitel’s entry. Robitel, who we interviewed a couple years ago took horror audiences by surprise with The Taking of Deborah Logan. We’ve been eagerly anticipating his next feature, and The Last Key looks like it’ll make good on the long wait. It’s kind of...

Read More
Become Bound to the Trailer for Gerald’s Game

Become Bound to the Trailer for Gerald’s Game

Posted by | Sep 6, 2017 | , |

  Just in time for Stephen King month, here’s the trailer for Mike Flanagan’s adaptation of Gerald’s Game! Gerald’s Game has long been considered one of King’s most difficult works in terms of adaptation. But if anyone can handle it it’s the team of Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard, who have managed to shock and surprise us with their collaborations on Oculus, Before I Wake, and Ouija: Origin of Evil. We’re confident that by the end of September, Gerald’s Game will join IT as one of the best Stephen King adaptations. Gerald’s Game will be available on Netflix on...

Read More
Nightmother’s Unholy Matrimony, September 2017

Nightmother’s Unholy Matrimony, September 2017

Posted by | Sep 6, 2017 | , |

Hey all, we have an investigative flavour happening this month which is kind of cool and unplanned. Very Blotter-esque. Dish up! Need to catch up, or missed the last monthly recommendations? Just click here. Something Old: The Ugly (1997) The ‘90s were a weird time for horror, but there are some hidden gems out there. For awhile we talked about how it’s the “worst” decade for the genre, now we talk a lot about how we talked about that but were wrong. Just like low-rise jeans. Anyway, this hidden gem came out of New Zealand in 1997. I’m recommending...

Read More
In The Vault, Poor Creative Choices Add Up to a Weak Horror Film

In The Vault, Poor Creative Choices Add Up to a Weak Horror Film

Posted by | Sep 5, 2017 | , |

Overview: A bank robbery quickly goes south due to mysterious, supernatural forces within the bank. FilmRise; 2017; Not Rated; 91 minutes. “We’re not alone”: In Dan Bush’s The Vault, siblings Michael Dillon (Scott Haze), Vee Dillon (Taryn Manning), and Leah Dillon (Francesca Eastwood) commit a bank robbery in order to help Michael Dillon pay back an ambiguously unsavory debt. In the process, the truth about the bank come to light and leads to chaos and carnage. Among those held hostage in the bank are assistant manager Ed Mass (James Franco) and head bank teller Susan Cromwell (Q’orianka Kilcher). While the...

Read More
Annabelle: Creation is Engaging and Spooky

Annabelle: Creation is Engaging and Spooky

Posted by | Aug 14, 2017 | , , |

Overview: 12 years after the loss of their child, a couple turn their haunted farmhouse into an orphanage. 2017; Warner Bros.; Rated R; 109 minutes The Switch: Is it too early to coin the term “Flanaganed”? Last year, Ouija: Origin of Evil won our hearts as the Most Improved Horror Franchise thanks to a surprisingly strong followup to its dead on arrival predecessor, Ouija. This was largely due to director Mike Flanagan, who took the dismal story and, by creating a prequel, salvaged the ideas that were muddled and lost in the first. It may seem unfair to bring...

Read More
New on Netflix Instant Streaming: The Transfiguration Explores Black Mental Illness Through Vampirism

New on Netflix Instant Streaming: The Transfiguration Explores Black Mental Illness Through Vampirism

Posted by | Aug 11, 2017 | , , |

Originally published on August 4, 2017. The Transfiguration is now available on Amazon Prime’s streaming service. Overview: A black teenager with an irresistible urge and a fascination with vampires meets a troubled girl who changes his self-perspective. Strand Releasing; 2017; NR; 97 minutes. Lost Boy: When we first meet Milo (Eric Ruffin) he’s sucking blood out of a dead man’s neck in a subway bathroom stall. It’s a grisly first encounter that quickly forfeits any notion that this film will toy with the with ‘is he or isn’t he a vampire?’ Milo believes he’s a vampire, and that’s what...

Read More
Nightmother’s Unholy Matrimony – August 2017

Nightmother’s Unholy Matrimony – August 2017

Posted by | Aug 4, 2017 | , |

Welcome back! Let’s eat. Something Old: Dolls (1987) Slow days at work mean I get to trawl the horror section to watch whatever lies at the bottom of the genre barrel – or, more usually, hidden gems that sit in my blind spot. I peeked at the cover of Dolls a few weeks ago on a slow day at work – “They walk, they talk, they kill.” – and put it on in the background. Whenever my I glanced at the screen, something wacky caught my eye. The moment I saw a child’s teddy bear come to life and...

Read More
New on Netflix Instant Streaming: The Devil’s Candy Hits the Sweet Spot

New on Netflix Instant Streaming: The Devil’s Candy Hits the Sweet Spot

Posted by | Aug 1, 2017 | , |

Originally published April 5, 2017. The Devil’s Candy is now available on Netflix Instant streaming. Overview: A heavy-metal loving painter and his family move into a house that promises tranquility and inspiration, but offers so much more when the hellish visions begin and the previous occupant comes knocking. IFC Midnight; 2017; Not Rated; 79 minutes. Moth into Flame: Horror iconography has always been a staple of heavy metal, and in turn much of contemporary horror has become infused with heavy metal through soundtrack and aesthetic. Metal has been used as a doorway to satanic forces, playing on the fears...

Read More
Nightmother Unholy Matrimony, July 2017

Nightmother Unholy Matrimony, July 2017

Posted by | Jul 7, 2017 | ,

Hey, remember this? It’s back. Need to catch up on how this union works? Check out the first post here. For the rest of you, welcome back, please close your eyes and open your mouth. Something Old: Lunacy (2005) There is no anniversary or notable callback to Jan Svankmajer’s Lunacy, but it’s this month’s Something Old because I said so, which seems like a very Nightmotherly thing to say. “What you are about to see is a horror film,” Svankmajer’s introduction begins, a moment of clarity to hold onto as the rest of the movie unwinds quite fittingly to...

Read More
47 Meters Down is the Horror Experience of the Summer

47 Meters Down is the Horror Experience of the Summer

Posted by | Jun 15, 2017 | , , |

Overview: Two sisters become trapped in a shark cage at the bottom of the ocean. With depleting oxygen and great white sharks roaming the dark depths around them, they must find the means to survive impossible odds. Entertainment Studios; Rated PG-13; 85 minutes. Open Water: There is a sequence, about forty minutes into Johannes Roberts’ survival horror film where, after venturing out to retrieve a flashlight, Mandy Moore’s Lisa is swimming back to the safety of the cage at the bottom of the ocean. Her sister, Kate (Claire Holt) sits waiting in the cage, gasping in the depleting air...

Read More
New on Amazon Prime Instant Streaming: They Look Like People Offers Heartfelt Horror

New on Amazon Prime Instant Streaming: They Look Like People Offers Heartfelt Horror

Posted by | Jun 10, 2017 | , , |

Originally published on May 14, 2016. They Look Like People is now available on Amazon Prime’s instant streaming service. Overview: A man deals with several struggles in his life while his friend struggles with schizophrenic delusions and clinical paranoia. 2015; Not Rated; 80 minutes. Wyatt/Christian: At first there’s a choppy, muted, sloppy casualness to They Look Like People – an unobtrusive, mumblecore-esque distance kept by the story as it watches old friends Christian (Evan Dumouchel) and Wyatt’s (MacLeod Andrews) unexpected reunion. Director Perry Blackshear opens his first feature film with choppy takes, disjointed voiceovers, conversational fragments. The first half of They Look Like...

Read More
Nightmother’s Unholy Matrimony, June 2017

Nightmother’s Unholy Matrimony, June 2017

Posted by | Jun 9, 2017 | , , |

Hi. Welcome to Nightmother’s new monthly horror post where I (your Nightmother, obviously) bring us together in unholy matrimony with the time-honoured tradition of collecting Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, and Something Bleu. Just stay with me here; it’s gonna be really good. Since this is our inaugural post, I’ll provide a little breakdown so you know what to generally expect. Something Old will feature an old horror movie that may be celebrating an anniversary of some kind, or a renewed relevance. For example, this month’s entry is Wait Until Dark which was released 40 years ago this...

Read More
Raw May Be the Year’s Best Horror Film

Raw May Be the Year’s Best Horror Film

Posted by | Jun 9, 2017 | , , |

Overview: A gifted veterinarian student finds her dietary and personal values challenged through a triggering event at college. Petit Film; 2016; Rated R; 99 minutes. Let it Sink In: Raw bared its flesh at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Adding to its critical success in Europe was the story that several audience members at the Toronto International Film Festival had to receive medical attention after fainting, a tried and true horror marketing ploy that, no matter how valid, always gets my attention. It delivers on its promise to be shocking, but it’s also brilliantly packed with symbolism and human...

Read More