pop culture

Pop culture for horror junkies; all about the famous films, creepypasta tales, trends and tropes that bled from the fringes of fright into the macabre mainstream.

The Top Zombie Films You Need to See
"White Zombie" (1932) (Gene pick) This film is significant for two huge reasons. One, it's the first time the word "zombie" is used in a film. Two, it's the inspiration for the name of Rob Zombie's original band, White Zombie. There's a good reason it inspired him, it's a surprisingly good film. Set in Haiti, Bela Lugosi plays Legendre, a voodoo master loosely associated with the owner of a local sugar plantation. When the plantation owner falls in love with a beautiful guest engaged to another man, he turns to Legendre to make her do what he wants. Legendre has been the secret of the owner's success before, since most of the plantation workers are in fact zombies.
By Gene Lass3 years ago in Horror
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project, as I remember when it first came out, all those many, many years ago when I was a Sophomore at BSU, was an endlessly-hyped "event" film allegedly based around the "found footage" of three disappeared college film students, Heather Donohue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams--all of whom are still alive and well, and all of whom essentially play themselves in the picture.
By Tom Baker3 years ago in Horror
Red Eye - A Movie Review
Be careful who you sit next to on a plane. You don’t know their true intentions. Red Eye flew into theaters in 2005. A young woman flying home on a plane befriends a man who turns out to be her seatmate. This man holds her hostage, threatening to murder her father if she doesn’t comply with his directions for an assassination plan.
By Marielle Sabbag3 years ago in Horror
The Top Werewolf Films You Need to See
"The Wolf Man" (1941) (Gene pick) The film that launched a franchise, and made Lon Chaney, Jr. a star, this is the iconic film most people think of if they think of a werewolf movie. Chaney plays Larry Talbot, a man who survives a werewolf attack, only to find himself turning into a werewolf himself when the moon is full. Talbot is a great everyman who hates that he becomes a monster that could hurt or kill anyone, including those he loves. Bela Lugosi and Maria Ospenskaya have small but key roles as gypsies who tell Talbot about his curse, and legendary actor Claude ("Casablanca") Rains plays Talbot's father, who must cure or stop his son.
By Gene Lass3 years ago in Horror
Disturbia - A Movie Review
Come here and look at this. Something’s going on at our neighbor's house. Disturbia is a 2007 film. Following an incident, Kale is on house arrest. With nothing to do except watch his neighbors, he suspects that one of his neighbors is up to no good. Can he investigate further even if he is confined to one location?
By Marielle Sabbag3 years ago in Horror
Why Are We So Connected to the Halloween Franchise?
Is the Halloween franchise truly going to end? It's unlikely. Even as the next film in the franchise is literally called Halloween Ends, my cynical mind cannot accept that idea. Sure, Jamie Lee Curtis and her continuity in the franchise will end, I trust her when she says she's finished with the series. But, Hollywood doesn't just stopping making a franchise in this day and age. If they feel there is still money to be made from an intellectual property, they will keep reheating it for eternity.
By Sean Patrick3 years ago in Horror
The Top Vampire Movies You Need to See
Nosferatu (1922): Max Schreck, Alexander Granach, Gustav von Wangenheim (Gene pick) This film is iconic. Even if you've never seen it, you've probably seen clips from it, as they frequently show up in other films, or in montages of vampire films. It's an unauthorized adaption of "Dracula," which shows vampires as they were originally thought to be - horrific undead creatures that used to be human, that sort of remember being human, but clearly they are human no longer.
By Gene Lass3 years ago in Horror
A New, Old Terror
This is a dead horse trope that, true to its nature, refuses to stay in the grave. From vampire, jiangshi, and xidachane, the walking corpse has collected many names from many cultures. Renowned horror authors such as Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, Ambrose Bierce, and H.P. Lovecraft have all been instrumental in influencing the exploration of the horrors of not only death but what lies beyond it.
By Wen Xiaosheng3 years ago in Horror
7 Of The Top Horror Masterpieces To Start October Right!
October is upon us, and it’s time to enjoy some of those favorite things about the witching season. Sweatshirt season, hot apple cider, the fall colors, and the hours of thrills, chills, and screams that will get your blood pumping on those cold fall nights. It’s the season of the witch, and it’s time to get the crap scared out of you and feel your heart beating through your chest.
By Jason Ray Morton 3 years ago in Horror
10 Best Characters of The Scream Franchise
After 10 years of hiatus since Scream 4 (2011) came out, the Scream Franchise has came back stronger with the return of our favorite horror icon, Ghostface, in the new movie that came out on January 14 of this year.
By Aletze Castellanos3 years ago in Horror
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Or, perhaps you might know it better from a still image of the film. Starring Christina Ricci. Also, the first film to feature a CGI character in a lead role.
By J.A. Hernandez3 years ago in Horror
Snow White: Darker than You Remember
I love fairytales. I adore the pageantry, the excess, the clear divisions between right and wrong, good and evil, but when I look a little deeper, these stories that raised us have shifted through the centuries. What I once thought of as a sweet story for children began its journey as a cautionary tale full of violence, infanticide, cannibalism, poison, magic and death. Let's unpack this week's edition as we compare and contrast the musical, animated Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves with the Grimm Brother's tale that inspired it.
By Regina Grimm3 years ago in Horror