Early press for The Wicker Tree has not been overwhelmingly good, but one might say it has been encouragingly mixed. The original Wicker Man did not become known as “the Citizen Kane of horror films” overnight, or even during the horror boom of the 1970s. It vanished into relative obscurity for some time before its rediscovery, and look at that baby burn now!

This article is filed under Best Movies, Great Britain, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Religion, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

“Vampires versus werewolves” is only one of the time-tested feuds that film and television have offered for our amusement. This week, Brett Harrison Davinger and I (Dan Fields) take a look at some other monstrous matchups, scary skirmishes, and curious critter clashes.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Phobias, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Television, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

British spies these days – the most interesting ones at any rate – are weary, compromised and full of a guilty nostalgia for the quiet savagery of the Cold War. Spy fiction is a way of thinking about British decline, the long loss of faith and loss of face that the last century brought from Suez onwards.

This article is filed under Espionage, Mystery, Television, The Fourth Wall.

This week is rife with compelling but problematic new trailers. Compelling but problematic but informative. Without excessive judgment before the fact, here are a few early impressions.

This article is filed under Crime Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horror, Movies, Mystery, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

The practice of blessing mass entertainment with the bard’s prose confers a kind of loftiness upon it, or at least that must be the idea. A quick glance indicates that Shakespeare has provided titles for an alarming number of Star Trek episodes, just for starters. This week, lend your ears to Brett Harrison Davinger and me (Dan Fields) as we look at some of our favorite films to borrow a title from the works of Shakespeare.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Horror, Literary Themes, Movies, Mystery, Poetry, Satire, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Television, The Fourth Wall, Theatre, Thrillers, Writers.

For those who have not been scared off by now, I think we could all use a stiff drink before tuning in next summer for Season 5. Which I know I will. Season 4 had a few too many stops, starts, and jerky turns, but True Blood seized its bloodthirsty mojo back at the finish line.

This article is filed under Death, Horror, Mystery, Mythology, Phobias, Science Fiction and Fantasy, Television, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

Forget good fences, and forget good neighbors. Characters in movies and television are far more compelling when not acting the least bit neighborly.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Satire, Television, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

An interior “desecrator” who despises the bored super-rich housewives who can afford her services, she lives amongst people for whom money has dissolved away the real world, and takes her revenge by smashing their heads in with the poker which she carries wrapped in a yoga mat.

This article is filed under Books, Crime Fiction, Fiction Reviews, Humor, Mystery, Satire, Thrillers.

Most movies like Black Death exploit the historical context to take shots at organized religion with impunity. A select few try to balance the mistakes of the early church with the importance of faith over dogma – an approach that Season Of The Witch admittedly tried, but got lost too far up its own butt to realize. Black Death tends toward the latter type of story, but pushes its acid satire into fairly new territory.

This article is filed under Historical Fiction, Horror, Movies, Mystery, Phobias, Politics, Religion, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.

Identity is a wonderful device for deception and suspense in storytelling. In some cases a whole plot hinges on whether or not someone is who they claim to be. The quest for identity, whether inwardly or outwardly direction, may lead to all manner of obsession, danger, and mischief.

This article is filed under Best Movies, Classics, Crime Fiction, Literary Themes, Movies, Mystery, Psychology, The Fourth Wall, Thrillers.