Alisha Weir as Abigail.
Universal Studios
Though she appears to be a child, we soon learn Abigail is centuries old, and has developed a habit for ‘playing with [her] food’
Maslow Entertainment
With its occult themes, ’70s nostalgia and some AI controversy thrown into the mix, it’s easy to see why the film was a US box-office success.
Black Bear Films / Neon
The increasing misogyny and oppression against women is reflected in this new horror, elevating it to something more than a mere nunsploitation movie.
Credit Ian Routledge. Copyright Lot Film Pty Ltd
For its many strengths, the film may divide audiences with its chaotic, surreal final act.
Pyper Braun as Alice with Chauncey the bear.
Lionsgate Entertainment
Some children have companions that are disobedient or even mean.
Signature Entertainment
Out of Darkness attempts at historical accuracy are a welcome surprise, and what’s more, it is fun to watch.
Skinamarink/Shudder © 2022
A wave of horror content is popping up across TikTok, carrying on a legacy that began on YouTube.
Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960).
Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo
Horror films incorporate varied musical influences, but there are some things many scary soundtracks have in common.
© 2023 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
What seems at first blush to be an innovative approach to franchise movie-making is nothing more than a futile exercise in cinematic nostalgia.
TCD/Prod.DB / Alamy
Made at a time when America was facing crises on many fronts, William Friedkin’s film has profound things to say about humanity and society.
Tony (Norbert Leo Butz), Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) and Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) in The Exorcist: Believer.
Universal Studios
There is a liberal splattering of gore, with the obligatory twisting heads and spewing of foul liquids.
Antoinette Robertson as Lisa in The Blackening.
Glen Wilson
The Blackening excels at subverting the very stereotypes it plays upon for its humour.
A24
Our new wave of horror carries the legacy of Australia’s strong horror history – while finally signalling the shedding of some cultural biases.
In ‘Scream 6,’ interior private spaces like apartments offer only the illusion of safety.
(Philippe Bossé/Paramount Pictures via AP)
Horror filmmakers are wrestling with space in cities and what it means to share it.
© Sarah Enticknap/Netflix
The new sincerity of horror has been sapping the genre of its fun. Netflix’s newest Australian offering is just the latest victim.
The Nightmare by John Henry Fuselli, 1781.
Wikepedia
A raft of horror films remind us of the grip troubled sleep once had on our imaginations.
Russell Crowe as Fr Gabriele Amorth in The Pope’s Exorcist.
Jonathan Hession/Sony Pictures
In reality, most Roman Catholic exorcists recognise the danger of encouraging a person suffering from auditory hallucinations to believe that these are demonic.
Over the course of ‘The Whale,’ Charlie’s body gradually breaks down.
A24
In a thin-obsessed culture, fatness has become its own kind of monster.
M3gan, the eponymous doll.
© 2022 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. All Rights Reserved
Far from recoiling in terror, fans have dubbed animatronic murderous doll M3gan a ‘queer icon’ – a horror expert explains why.
Jordan Peele’s latest horror film challenges viewers to consider technology, surveillance, other worldly life and the making of spectacle through different lenses — including the eyes of animals.
(Universal Pictures)
When it comes to our ethical duties to animals, representation and respect should go hand in hoof.