The Hole in the Ground arrives in cinemas this week – the latest horror to explore the terrifying realities of raising children. The stress, the lack of sleep, and the anxiety of bringing up these little monsters to be well-rounded human beings. Which is all the more complicated if they turn out to be actual monsters, of course, as often happens in horror films. And horror can teach us a lot more about parenting that you might think – the dos, don’ts, and how not tos – when it comes to good, wholesome parent-child relationship. Here are nine essential lessons on parenting from horror movies. Lock The Doors As Seen In: The Hole In The Ground Kids wander – they’re adventurous, investigative li
One of the improvements that The Walking Dead has managed to implement over most of this series has been the format; gone are the days (generally speaking) where we follow a couple of characters on some self-contained little adventure that ultimately bears little weight to the overall story and doesn't really move things on in any way. It feels a lot more ensemble now and most episodes are spent switching between individuals, groups and even communities. It makes for a faster paced, leaner viewing experience. This week the focus was split between two story threads. The first, the standoff at Hilltpop between the Whisperers and the Hilltopians and Ezekiel's quest to retrieve a projector bulb
The Legend of Hell House (Directed by John Hough) This inventive movie is sometimes written off as the poor cousin to Robert Wise’s “The Haunting” (1963), which is understandable if entirely unfair. Both films are based on books around ghost-prone buildings being investigated by a small group of experts. But “Hell House” has its own unique wrinkle on hauntings and a very different direction. It’s based on a book written by the great genre author Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay to ensure the ideas copied across. (NB: That said, the sexual elements were still toned down for the movie). Whereas the classic Wise film contains a fair bit of ambiguity with its scares, the supernatu
Last week we predicted that over the next couple of episodes we would see a shift in focus to the leader(s) of The Whisperers (hardly the most original prophecy, I know). Well, in episode 10 we got exactly that. Introductions to the villains of Walking Dead are always pretty important and as much as the Negan story got a little tiring, his introduction was one that won't be forgotten. Whilst Alpha doesn't actually show her face in the present until the closing scenes, the episode is fundamentally all about building up her backstory and the mythology of her character. This is someone that we are supposed to be afraid of and whilst there was nowhere near the level of bloodshed and downright te
Tales From The Crypt (Directed by Freddie Francis) If you’re a genre fan, “Tales from the Crypt” means different things to different people. Of course there are the original EC comics from the 50s, and there’s the HBO series and movies from the 90s. But for UK horror fans of a certain age, this classic anthology from Amicus was their first exposure to the brand. A slight cheat inasmuch as only two of the stories are legitimately from the comics, this film was directed by the experienced Hammer/Amicus stalwart Francis. It manages to incorporate combine some of the ghoulish morality of the US comics, but it couldn’t be more British if it tried. It’s packed full of renowned English actors; incl
So The Walking Dead is back and with it, confirmation (just in case we needed it) that Jesus is dead. Aron sticking a knife into his head kind of put to bed any remaining hopes that Jesus would be resurrected, so to speak. I mus admit, his death at the end of the mid-season finale had me contemplating whether to carry on watching the show or not. It's not that I'm a Jesus freak or anything, but the show's insistence on killing off it's better characters was starting to wear a little thin.. Michonne led the survivors of the recent fracas with the Whisperers back to Hilltop where the residents took the news of Jesus' death pretty hard, as you'd expect. The need for vengeance is clear and the f
Blood on Satan's Claw (Directed by Piers Haggard) Sometimes lumbered with an unnecessary “The” in the credits, and also going by other International titles such as “Satan’s Skin” or “The Devil’s Touch”, this film can easily be favourably compared with the best of British genre from any age. It generally completes a triumvirate of classic “folk horror” (along with “Witchfinder General” and “The Wicker Man”), and has been hugely influential in modern comedy works such as “The League of Gentlemen” and “Inside No. 9”. It was actually originally envisaged as a period horror anthology with linked short stories, and was inspired by the Manson cult and the infamous case of the young murderess Mary B
