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Crash Analysis Support Team: Randy Brzoska’s “Kid in Play” (Part IV)
Problems with Children in Horror Movies Early in the 2011 movie Citadel there is a scene that pulls me out of the narrative without fail every time I see it. It stops me cold. The protagonist, a young widowed father named Tommy, is home alone one evening with his infant daughter. He’s been having…
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Crash Analysis Support Team: CARRIE (2013) Guest Post from Jonny Numb
[100 minutes. R. Director: Kimberly Peirce] In the horror canon, Brian De Palma’s CARRIE (1976) is considered a signature work – a film that, without fail, gets frequent mention on those “What to Watch this Halloween” lists. Based on Stephen King’s first published novel, it tells the tale of the titular outcast (Sissy Spacek), who…
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Crash Analysis: THE CONJURING (2013)
More like THE OVER-RATED A ghost story you’ve seen before… Wonderful directing, acting, editing, cinematography, special effects, and at least three solid scares. Sounds like a perfect movie, right? But the script came from the pens of twin brothers Chad and Carey Hayes, the duo who brought us 2007’s pathetic THE REAPING, and the laughable…
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Crash Analysis Support Team: Kid In Play (Part II) – Guest Post from R. S. Brzoska
Like any artist, it’s worthwhile for a horror writer considering using the child-in-peril trope to think roundly about both what his/her audience expects and what the story’s needs are. How far are you willing to go? How comfortable are you with going there? As hinted at in part one, child harm is a…
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Crash Analysis: SINISTER (2012)
Smart to derivative in three acts Egomaniacal writer endangers family SINISTER had such promise: A strong beginning, relatable yet interesting characters, great dialogue, Ethan Hawke’s spot-on acting, and some rock solid, if not disturbing intrigue. The first act alone is enough to make horror fans twinge from delight. After all, a noted but struggling true…
