Skip to Content

Crafted with Love: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and the Cthulhu Mythos

Having finished Lolita, a subversive Hollywood piece even by noirish standards, Kubrick returned to war. Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’s scope was more encompassing than the private torture of Paths of Glory, looking forward to the threat of apocalyptic destruction instead of a reflective portrait of immediate world wars. Instead of matching and multiplying the grave tone inherent in both his previous work and the source material, Red Alert by Peter George, Kubrick opted for a brand of blacker-than-pitch humor claiming “The only way to tell the story was as a black comedy or, better, a nightmare comedy, where the things you laugh at most are really the heart of the paradoxical postures that make a nuclear war possible…”. This does not deter from the omnipresent horror surrounding both the film and the historical environment that determined its existence. Beneath the antics and the (wonderfully) strained acting of Sellers and Scott lies the taut strains of nuclear holocaust with only these chummy actors in control. It’s dread at its purest, comfortably resting amongst the instantly quotable dialogue and perfectly composed images: an atmosphere of unspeakable horror-that-is-to-come.

Read More about Crafted with Love: ‘Dr. Strangelove’ and the Cthulhu Mythos

Essential Viewing for fans of ‘The Last Exorcism’

Ever since the release of the Academy Award nominated The Exorcist, back in 1973, Hollywood has benefited quite a bit from movies about exorcism, and the box office numbers show no signs of recession. With the release of The Last Exorcism 2, I decided to spotlight three films that are criminally overlooked, and that I …

Read More about Essential Viewing for fans of ‘The Last Exorcism’

Extended Thoughts on ‘The Rescuers Down Under’

The Rescuers Down Under Directed by Hendel Butoy and Mike Gabriel Written by Jim Cox, Karey Kirkpatrick, Byron Simpson, Joe Ranft Starring Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, George C. Scott The level of faith the Walt Disney Company places in its own products never ceases to be amazing if inexplicable. Each era at this massive corporation …

Read More about Extended Thoughts on ‘The Rescuers Down Under’