Angst Through the Ages: The Chokehold of the Serial Killer on 20th Century Cinema[Abridged transcription of the video essay Angst Through the Ages: Nate Roscoe on the Chokehold of the Serial Killer on 20th Century Cinema, featured on Umbrella Entertainment’s UHD/Blu-ray C… Nov 28 25November 28, 2025Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
The Importance of Being Honest: Why ‘Weapons’ Was Sent to Test Me[Relax. Ye shall find no major spoilers here.] Hype. What a devil it can be. As a moviegoer, few experiences sting like exiting a screening room afflicted with the burn of disappointment, your medi… Aug 18 25August 18, 2025Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
TV: The Indelible Mark of ‘The Tattooist of Auschwitz’Thick clouds of cold, obsidian dread permeate The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Sky’s six-part reworking of the multi-million bestseller by Heather Morris: they loom disquietingly in the first frames and… May 05 24May 05, 2024Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
This Time It’s Farcical: ‘Meg 2’[Meg 2: The Trench is currently playing in cinemas worldwide.] Holy megalodon! Just when you thought it was safe to give this floundering franchise a wide berth, along swims Meg 2: The Trench: a fo… Aug 06 23August 06, 2023Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
When Todd Met Selma: Hollywood’s Darkest HorsesTodd Solondz knows how to write women. Years before the film industry came to its senses and realised the value in putting ladies of all colours, body types, age brackets, and degrees of distinctio… Aug 04 23August 04, 2023Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
I Know Who Killed Lindsay: Stripping Back the Layers of a Neglected TrashterpieceJuly 27th, 2007: twenty-five days after her milestone 21st birthday, Lindsay Lohan’s latest star vehicle—the intriguingly titled, mid-budget brainfuck I Know Who Killed Me—was laid bare upon 1… Nov 03 22November 03, 2022Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Gimme Moore: The Making of a Pitiable Monstress in ‘Maps to the Stars’Very few performers nail neurosis like Julianne Moore. Between her stupefying embodiment of a housewife on the brink in Todd Haynes’ terrific Safe (1995), tightly-wound turns in a sprawling pair of… Jun 10 22June 10, 2022Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
TV: The Sharp, Sour Taste of ‘Candy’[Candy is currently available to stream on Hulu in the U.S. Other territories to be confirmed.] The notion of a “perfect crime” might well be best suited to the lurid pages of hard-boiled pulp fict… Jun 01 22June 01, 2022Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Shopping for Suspense in Brian De Palma’s ‘Body Double’[The screenplay excerpts contained herein are my own creation; it was not my intent to imitate the work of Brian De Palma/Robert J. Avrech—I have not read their script for Body Double.] A great set… May 21 22May 21, 2022Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Hello, I Must Be Lazy: Heartache & Healing in a Poignant Pair of IndiesIf there’s a mentality to which every single one of us can relate, it is that of not having accomplished enough in our adult lives. There appears to be a customary juncture, somewhere around the ag… May 01 22May 01, 2022Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
X Marks the THOT (That Hag Over There)(Spoilers for X follow.) Mar 24 22March 24, 2022Article at fangoria.com
‘Don’t Look in the Basement!’ — It’s Sad and Lonely Down ThereThe relationship between psychiatry and the movies has long been fraught with failure. For every well-intentioned dive into the catacombs of mental illness, there are countless cinematic tales that… Jan 31 22January 31, 2022Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Second Time Unlucky: The Ripples of Post-Traumatic Stress in ‘Jaws 2’If there was one thing that hounded me in the weeks and months following the miseries I endured whilst in the ensnarement of a manipulative abuser, it was the fear of not being believed. A fear so … Nov 11 21November 11, 2021Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Noir in the Nineties: Retconning the Femme Fatale in ‘The Opposite of Sex’For those who subscribe to such theories, the 1st of November marks the advent of the Feast of All Saints: a day upon which Roman Catholics commemorate the saints and martyrs who, throughout Christ… Nov 04 21November 04, 2021Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Life Out of a Suitcase: My Enduring Love Affair With VHS“Mu-uum! Pur-leaaase!” I remember it like it was yesterday: our local independent video shop, its sharp fluorescent ceiling lights flooding down over twelve-year-old me and mother dearest, wh… Apr 21 21April 21, 2021Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
The Devil Is in the Detail: The Visual Kinship of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ & ‘The Perfume of the Lady in Black’“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, the brilliant Oscar Wilde once affirmed. An irrefutable game changer for big-screen scares, it’s no real surprise to spot the narrat… Mar 23 21March 23, 2021Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Growing Old Disgracefully: A Deep Dive Into Grande Dame GuignolHagsploitation. Not the most flattering of terms, is it? For this writer at least, it conjures up a very specific set of images—antiquated wigs, smudged lipstick and eyeliner; maybe a facial wart a… Oct 11 20October 11, 2020Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Ho, Ho, Huh? — The Bewildering Beauty of ‘Blood Beat’[An abridged version of the following piece appeared in 88 Films’ Limited Edition Blu-ray release of Christmas Evil (1980), issued December 2019.] I’m willing to bet that you’ve never s… Dec 04 19December 04, 2019Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
On the Right Track: Going Loco for Steam Trains in the Movies[An abridged version of the following piece appeared in 88 Films’ Limited Edition Blu-ray release of Terror Train (1980), issued November 2019.] My love affair with locomotives began around t… Nov 05 19November 05, 2019Article at trashtotarkovsky.com
Jesus Is Calling: A Moment of Clarity in ‘Junebug’There’s a key development in Phil Morrison’s forlorn 2005 dramedy, Junebug, that is so subtle it could almost go unnoticed. It comes during a parish get-together, where George (Alessand… Jun 13 19June 13, 2019Article at trashtotarkovsky.com