Cinema has featured liminal spaces for decades. In Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), every room, corridor, garden path -and arguably, the Overlook Hotel itself- exuded liminality. The empty subway tunnels in 2025's Exit 8 are another perfect example of the creepy nature of liminal spaces, as is the most recent Backrooms (2026), itself inspired by an almost decade-old internet creepypasta. Cinematic liminal spaces are traditionally associated with horror movies, though thi

“Having reached the end of my poor sinner’s life, my hair now white, I prepare to leave on this parchment my testimony as to the wondrous and terrible events I witnessed in my youth.” So opens Jean-Jaques Annaud’s The Name of the Rose (1986). The words are those of Adso of Melk, a minor character and novice to Franciscan friar William of Baskerville. As a child, watching it on lowly DVD, they captivated me as they could have come right out of any of Lovecraft’s ‘confessional’

During the second half of that decade of extravagant excesses that was the 1980s, the vampire film genre was riding a high wave. Cult classic Fright Night, released in 1985, singlehandedly revived interest in all things featuring the creatures of the night. The Lost Boys would premiere in the summer of 87, also to great public acclaim. And a short few months later, a low-budget movie from a then unknown director appeared in theaters with very little fanfare and confusing mark

Back in the late 90s, Asian horror was virtually unknown to Western audiences. The few titles that did reach Europe and beyond were often bootleg VHS copies with poor dubbing and even worse picture quality. This may have contributed to a general skepticism towards Asian cinema. DVDs were still a novelty in those days. They had not yet become as popular as they did throughout the early 00s. VHS tapes were still in circulation. For better or worse, a cursed VHS tape would becom

It all began with a giant ape It was in the distant days of 1933 when a young Canadian actress named Fay Wray became the object of contra-natura affection for a big ape. Wray, not yet 30 years of age, was tasked with appearing fainty while in the proximity of the forthcoming animal, and more importantly, to scream when Kong tried his moves on her. To scream a lot. Thus, Ms. Wray would unwittingly become the original Scream Queen, the first of a long breed of beautiful female

With the absolute dearth of 4K horror releases in the coming week, I have decided to use this week’s Back From the Dead slot for something a little more current. What’s the throwback, you ask? Well, the title says it all. So, the nominations for the Emmy Awards are out and Apple TV’s horror series Widow’s Bay is right up at the front of the pack with 19 nominations (only Hacks and The Pitt have more). I recently finished watching season 1 and I can see why. From acting to wri