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Cat Dead, Details Later: How Stuart Gordon Found Humor in H.P. Lovecraft

H.P. Lovecraft isn’t exactly known for his sense of humor. The late author, who has the very serious epitaph “I AM PROVIDENCE” carved into his tombstone, spent his odd, secluded life penning tales of terror for pulp magazines. Lovecraft created the Cthulu mythos, and wrote story after story of mankind coming up against cosmic deities older than time itself. Page after page was devoted to human beings having their very sanity obliterated at the sight of unspeakable forces that were only a thin layer away from our own reality. These were tales of hopelessness, where all were doomed to some perilous demise.

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Gotham, Ep. 1.17, “Red Hood” explores the influence of a mask

The season enters its final quarter with an episode that escalates the drama of the ongoing plots alongside a standalone case that interestingly adapts a Batman villain to the small screen. Gordon and the GCPD are not so much downplayed in this episode as they are given equal attention as the four other separate plots that are playing out. The episode does a great job juggling the separate narratives without them needing to cross paths until the very end.

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On ‘Suburban Gothic’ and its irreverently sardonic tone

Suburban Gothic Written by Richard Bates Jr. and Mark Bruner Directed by Richard Bates Jr. USA, 2015 What makes a film a cult hit? Usually it’s a combination of an underground fan base, a kitschy premise or execution, a deeply engaging cast – either due to immeasurable talent, or a complete lack thereof. Most significantly, …

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Tombstone Tuesdays: H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator

Re-Animator, another obscure zombie flick, questions scientific advancements by revealing potential consequences and effects to the people around us. This last Tombstone Tuesday could have easily been given to Army of Darkness by Sam Raimi, Night of the Living Dead by George A. Romero, Shaun of the Dead by Edgar Wright, Dead Snow by Tommy Wirkola, or maybe even Dead Alive by Peter Jackson. But Re-Animator offers something beyond braining eating and strange noises. Re-Animator is a non-traditional classic that is centered on an underlying message of whether or not science is going too far.

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Bigfoot Saturdays: ‘Abominable’ and the Fluidity of Myth

[Continued from Part 1] Take two of why I wanted to write about Bigfoot: Bigfoot has an uncommon amount of myth malleability. This is related, of course, to his unknowability; the strokes of his mythology are broad and vague, so he can be made and molded to slip into essentially any story vaguely set neat …

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TADFF 2013 Day 4: ‘Silent Retreat’, ‘Septic Man’, and ‘Motivational Growth’

Opting for a rehabilitation program over jail time, Janey (Chelsea Jenish) discovers the hidden ramifications of her choice when she arrives at an isolated camp, where she is told by the strict “doctor” (Robert Nolan) that she, and the other young women at the retreat, can’t talk to or interact with each other. Things are compounded when Janey discovers that people aren’t the only things that inhabit the area.

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Director & Actor Teams: The Overlooked & Underrated (Part 1 of 2)

Cinema is a kind of uber-art form that’s made up of a multitude of other forms of art including writing, directing, acting, drawing, design, photography and fashion.  As such, film is, as all cinema aficionados know, a highly collaborative venture. One of the most consistently fascinating collaborations in cinema is that of the director and …

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