Flickering Myth

Film & TV News, Reviews and Features

Direct-to-Video Horror: The Unsung Heroes of 90s Genre Cinema

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Adam Page on the unsung heroes of horror…Obviously, I’m not going sit here and argue that Puppet Master 4 is Citizen Kane. I would insult both movies, and more importantly, I would miss the point completely. Because the direct-to-video horror boom of the 1990s wasn’t representing high art. It was something perhaps more important: It […]

Clive Barker’s Hellraiser Universe: Ambition, Excess, and the Franchise That Could Have Been

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Adam Page unlocks the Lament Configuration for a deep dive into the Hellraiser franchise…Shall we talk about something that was once genuinely frightening? Not in the jump-scare way, that cheap sugar-rush of a masked man hiding in a cupboard. No. I’m talking about the sort of horror that makes you feel complicit in your own […]

David Cronenberg’s The Fly at 40: A Love Letter to the Rot

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Adam Page on David Cronenberg’s sci-fi body horror classic The Fly…There is a moment in The Fly from David Cronenberg, and if you haven’t seen it yet, stop reading, go watch it and come back, I’ll wait. Okay, then? It’s where Jeff Goldblum’s Seth Brundle pulls off his fingernail. Just…lifts it away clean to show […]

Peak Paranoia: Why David Cronenberg’s 80s Body Horror Movies Are More Relevant Than Ever

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Adam Page on why David Cronenberg’s 80s body horror movies are more relevant than ever…There is a famous scene in Videodrome (1983) where James Woods reaches into his own stomach. Not through it, into it. His torso has opened up, quietly and without drama like a VHS slot, and he slips his hand inside and […]

The TV Shows That Dared To Be Complex Before Complexity Was Allowed

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Adam Page on the pioneering TV shows that dared to be complex before complexity was allowed…I want to talk about something that I think a lot of people have either forgotten about the nineties or, if you’re of a younger age, just aren’t aware of. I’m not talking about the glossy, Friends-sofa, Central Perk version […]

J-Horror and the Western Gaze: When Asian Horror Invaded the 90s

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Adam Page on the J-horror popularity explosion of the late 90s and its impact on Hollywood…I know I’m starting this with a generalisation, but there is an odd sort of arrogance that comes with being American. It’s not malicious, it’s more of a quiet, deeply held assumption that the best ideas of the world will […]

The Omen at 50: The Story Behind the Crown Jewel of Religious Horror

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Hasitha Fernando on the story behind The Omen as it turns 50…Religious horror is a subgenre that is not meant for weak minded viewers. From the get-go you are drawn into an unholy world of profanity and darkness that challenges your very beliefs. Over the years different filmmakers have given us many unforgettable religious horror […]

Zardoz: When an Actor Needs a Check, and a Director Needs to be Checked

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Jack Gayer delves into the cult 1974 Sean Connery sci-fi Zardoz…I’d like to see more movies with a slightly out-of-shape, middle-aged man as the star. They should be hirsute, wearing nothing but a bandolier and what may or may not be a bright red diaper. They also need a Fu Manchu, Wolverine-thick sideburns, and a […]

Is AI About to Make Creatives Irrelevant?

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Are we at a crossroads with AI, or already way down the road leading to the death of the creative?You can’t halt progress, and when money is being fired at an industry with the velocity of the Death Star’s planet-destroying laser, then it inevitably feels like said industry is unstoppable. Despite everything the Terminator franchise […]

The Crazy Story Behind Hell Comes to Frogtown

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Jack Gayer on the backstory behind the 1988 cult classic Hell Comes to Frogtown…“It’s the end of the 20th century, and mankind has blown its wad. The fate of humanity rests in the groin of one man.” This tasteful, informative line, courtesy of the trailer, spells out the tone and plot of Hell Comes to […]