Halloween II (1981)

I find horror sequels endlessly fascinating. Specifically, I find first sequels passed off to a new director fascinating (not that I don’t have a soft spot for sequels like Evil Dead II or Hostel 2 made by the original director, or the gems that pop up late in a franchise like Jason Lives: Friday the…

You're Next (2013)

Double Feature: Halloween (1978) and You’re Next (2013)

Halloween may not been the first masked killer movie (arriving four years after Leatherface), but the implacable Michael Myers’ shadow stretches long across the genre; establishing many significant tropes (the killer is invulnerable until he is unmasked. A perfunctory backstory that doesn’t disguise how the masked man – it’s always a man – stands in…

Prom Night IV: Deliver Us from Evil (1992)

Prom Night III may have been an average film, not as clever or funny as it thought it was, but at least it was clear that the producers had a good time making it. There’s no such vibe here, with this third sequel coming across a cheap cash-in (or possibly a rough adaptation of an…

Prom Night (1980)

I have a soft spot for ‘80s slasher films. It’s because they remind me of the enticing, illicit possibilities that young adulthood holds when you’re a young teenager. The promise of freedom, fun, forbidden pleasures and, naturally, sex. Paired with temptation is an all-consuming sense of danger, and slasher films generally personify that as some…