In 1973, William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” shocked audiences with its convincing portrayal of demonic possession, getting under our skin with slow-burning horror, the fear of godlessness, and the loss of self-control. Mythologies about dark spirits and the underworld have existed across cultures for a long, long time, and possession films tap into our primal fears; […]
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Lingering Spirits in Christopher McKenney’s Surreal Photography
Christopher McKenney is a Pennsylvania-based photographer who combines surrealism with horror. We featured his work in 2013, but in the years since he has created a fascinating body of new work. The images featured here center around McKenney’s recurring motifs of facelessness and fragmentation, which together symbolize the universalizing power of death; shrouded figures appear […]
An Analysis of Quentin Tarantino’s Visual Trademarks and Film Inspirations
Quentin Tarantino is the director who shook up 1990s American cinema, defined an era and re-established the notion of “cool movies.” A former video store clerk, he lived, breathed and dreamed movies. The guy is a walking talking encyclopaedia of cinema history. Tarantino loves talking about films as much as he loves making them. After […]
Ten Exciting Movies from The 66th Berlin International Film Festival
The 66th Berlin International Film Festival recently premiered the latest works in world cinema. With a whopping 310,000 tickets sold, Berlinale is one of the biggest public-focused film festivals in the world. The programme was incredibly varied and while Berlinale does not match the grandiosity and blockbuster bling status of Cannes, its commitment to embracing […]
10 Modern Movie Thrillers You Should Watch
We often go to the movies to be thrilled and no other art form can thrill us so spectacularly. Leaving the world behind for a couple of hours and engaging with a plot and characters often far removed from our own lives is part and parcel of the big screen’s charm and persuasion. Thrillers come […]
Dali: Fueled by Fears and Fascinations
Salvador Dali didn’t suffer from phobias, he reveled in them. His list of pathological fears ran from childhood ereuthophobia, a fear of blushing, to acrididophobia, a fear of grasshoppers. A general fear of insects was connected to delusional parasitosis—a feeling of nonexistent bugs infesting one’s skin. He also feared, among many other things, the female […]
The Cinema of Walerian Borowczyk: Something to Do with Sex
Note: Contains nudity and sexual references. No director in the history of cinema explored erotic themes, sensuality and the power of desire quite like Walerian Borowczyk (1923 – 2006). He was a master filmmaker, a major figure in surrealist cinema, and since his death his work and reputation have been revived and reappraised. Having studied […]
10 Expert Biomechanical Tattoo Artists
In the late 70s, Ridley Scott collaborated with Swiss artist H.R. Giger to design the creatures in his internationally acclaimed sci-fi horror film, “Alien.” Giger’s art became so popular that it inspired generations of artists, and impacted a surrealistic style of tattoo art. Fusing machines with living organisms, biomechanical tattoos have developed over the decades, […]
10 Beautiful Movies for Photography Fans
Cinematography has been called “painting with light” and directors of photography are a major component of the filmmaking process. Whether they are hired to light the sets or are deeply involved in compositions, framing, selecting film stocks and overseeing post-production processes, the DP collaborates with the director to bring forth onto the screen the images […]
10 Skull Artworks Depicting Death and Memento Mori
Skulls remind us of what strangeness exists just beneath the armour of flesh. They are also pure emblems of death. In art “Memento mori” pieces symbolize our morality and death’s relationship to life. “Memento mori” translates from the Latin as “remember to die.” American illustrator, Charles Allan Gilbert (1883 – 1929), produced an acclaimed set […]