Devin McGrath-Conwell

When done well, found footage horror scythes through all our “it’s just a movie” defense mechanisms to terrify on a singular level. The phenomenon that was The Blair Witch Project (1999) embodies how unnerving the genre can be. Filmmakers break down…

After months of prognostication and guesswork, the 2023 Academy Award nominations are out in the world. As is the case every year, those nominations bring with them a slew of excitements and frustrations. Stephanie Hsu making into Best Supporting…

Introduction Christmas Bloody Christmas is a deliciously unholy union of The Terminator (1984) and Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984). With it, writer-director Joe Begos continues his run of grungy horror outfitted around a dark and playful heart.…

When the Zoom screen opened up, Noah Segan, the writer/director/star of Blood Relatives (2022) sat in his garage with a 1969 Barracuda Fastback, his car from the film, gleaming behind him. Blood Relatives marks Segan’s feature directorial debut after…

Though they have never truly faded from style, it would seem we are experiencing a full-blooded renaissance of vampire stories. Spurred on predominantly by television successes like What We Do in the Shadows (2019-) and Interview with the Vampire…

This month’s Halloween Ends (2022) marks the 13th installment in the Halloween franchise. Since Halloween (1978) introduced the world to Michael Myers (Nick Castle) and Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), Halloween has mashed, crashed, and slashed its…

The tagline for Halloween Kills (2021) may have been “evil dies tonight,” but when it comes to Michael Myers that is never quite the case. Since he first slow-walked on screen in Halloween (1978), Myers has persevered. Shoot him six times so he falls…

Welcome to Let's Talk for Reels, a Screen Speck podcast dedicated to intense and unserious conversations on the films that shape our lives and culture, hosted by Mariana Delgado. I sat with Devin McGrath-Conwell to discuss everyone's neighborhood…

This article originally appeared in the Oct/Nov 2022 print issue of Filmhounds Magazine. No one was supposed to remember F.W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922). At least, not if Bram Stoker’s widow, Florence, succeeded. Though Murnau and his team never…

Horror has been in the air around Marvel projects of late. Announcing Blade’s return as well as Sam Raimi’s creative stamp on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) are both notable for the horror-averse MCU. Yes, there have been…

My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022) mashes up 1980s teen movies with The Exorcist (1973) and does neither justice. The film careens through frailly sketched plotlines and half-baked characters never able to settle on a tone that suits it. Summary It’s…

If you were to write a recipe for writer-director David Hebrero’s Everyone Will Burn (2022), it would go something like this. Get out of a big mixing bowl, pour in a heaping foundation of telenovela, and don’t you dare skimp. Next, slide in a hunk of…

Perry Blackshear’s third feature, When I Consume You (2022), literalizes demons of the past for two siblings. Daphne (Libby Ewing) and her older brother Wilson (Evan Dumouchel) live scrappy lives in New York City. Nebulous childhood trauma ripples…

Introduction After a well-received festival run, Vincent Grashaw’s What Josiah Saw (2022) arrives on Shudder today. Written by Robert Dilts, What Josiah Saw is a blend of Southern Gothic, psychological thriller, and a chilling ghost story. The film…

Blue sky pans down to a white-picket fence and red roses while the first notes of Bobby Vinton’s “Blue Velvet” ring out. A cross-dissolve takes us to a ruby red fire engine with a waving firefighter and Dalmatian. The montage continues. Glimpses of…

Long-suffering passion projects from filmmakers have, to be generous, a spotty success rate. For every triumph like The Irishman (2019), there are a slew of corresponding duds like Battlefield Earth (2000) or The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018).…

Shot in sumptuous black and white, The Righteous (2022) offers a taut and horror-tinged character study. Anchored by a guilt-stricken and searing turn from Henry Czerny, Mark O’Brien’s film settles deep in your bones. Synopsis The Righteous follows…

The following is a review of the entire 6-episode mini-series The Essex Serpent. Nonetheless, I have written the piece in a way to avoid discussing the plot. You can consider this a spoiler-free reflection on the series as a whole. I cannot quite…

In Eskil Vogt’s Norwegian thriller The Innocents (2022), childhood is the locus of evil. Young girl Ida (Rakel Lenora Fløttum) and her family have relocated while most of the country is on summer holiday. Her primary company, and responsibility, is…

Introduction Jane Schoenbrun’s We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2022) offers an unnerving exploration of all things creepypasta. The film operates both as a cross-section of the darker corners of the internet and a character study of loneliness.…