[Editorial] #HeldByHorror: How 'Starfish' represents the horror of living with PTSD
This week is #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek and filmmaker, podcaster and writer, Ariel Baska, talks about the horror movie Starfish. Through this film Ariel has found a portrayal of what it's like to live with PTSD and in isolation. Ariel talks openly about mental health and horror, and how the genre has made her feel both held and healed.
HAVE YOU LISTENED TO OUR PODCAST YET?
RELATED ARTICLES
Possessor is a slick futuristic thriller in which Tasya Vos, an assassin for hire, must manage her responsibilities as an elite killing machine and complex feelings towards her husband and son, whilst taking on another high-profile job that will push her to the edge of her sanity.
Sara is a woman condemned from the start, first because of her religious beliefs…
The Babadook is a 2014 psychological horror, the directorial debut of Jennifer Kent…
Helen Lyle is a triple threat. She is smart, charismatic and tenacious. An innovative researcher who wants to push the envelope. ..
When James Wan’s The Conjuring (2013) was first released, it set the tone for 2010s horror and was regarded by some horror fans as the beginning of a renaissance for the genre…
Sara is host of a failing web series entitled Encounters which shows her meeting a range of offbeat people through personal ads…
It’s not wholly obvious in the first thirty minutes of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre just who our final girl will be…
Filmdom’s conventional wisdom in the mid-20th Century decreed that horror was no place for a lady. That is, unless it was as a shrieking victim dressed in a bosom-baring, diaphanous nightie…
When reassessing The Exorcist, there are implications of abuse brought on by Chris MacNeil’s reluctance to be a proper ‘mother’ to Regan…
Everyone must play, no outsiders allowed, nobody leaves.
EXPLORE
Now it’s time for Soho’s main 2023 event, which is presented over two weekends: a live film festival at the Whirled Cinema in Brixton, London, and an online festival a week later. Both have very rich and varied programmes (with no overlap this year), with something for every horror fan.
In the six years since its release the Nintendo Switch has amassed an extensive catalogue of games, with everything from puzzle platformer games to cute farming sims to, uh, whatever Waifu Uncovered is.
A Quiet Place (2018) opens 89 days after a race of extremely sound-sensitive creatures show up on Earth, perhaps from an exterritorial source. If you make any noise, even the slightest sound, you’re likely to be pounced upon by these extremely strong and staggeringly fast creatures and suffer a brutal death.
If you like cults, sacrificial parties, and lesbian undertones then Mona Awad’s Bunny is the book for you. Samantha, a student at a prestigious art university, feels isolated from her cliquey classmates, ‘the bunnies’.
The slasher sub genre has always been huge in the world of horror, but after the ‘70s and ‘80s introduced classic characters like Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Jason, it’s not harsh to say that the ‘90s was slightly lacking in the icon department.
Mother is God in the eyes of a child, and it seems God has abandoned the town of Silent Hill. Silent Hill is not a place you want to visit.
Being able to see into the future or back into the past is a superpower that a lot of us would like to have. And while it may seem cool, in horror movies it usually involves characters being sucked into terrifying situations as they try to save themselves or other people with the information they’ve gleaned in their visions.
Both the original Pet Sematary (1989) and its 2019 remake are stories about the way death and grief can affect people in different ways. And while the films centre on Louis Creed and his increasingly terrible decision-making process, there’s no doubt that the story wouldn’t pack the same punch or make the same sense without his wife, Rachel.
The story focuses on a group of survivors after most of the world’s population is wiped out by Captain Trips, a lethal super-flu. And while there are enough horrors to go around in a story like this, the real focus of King’s book is how those who survive react to the changing world around them.
While some films successfully opt to leave the transformation scene out completely, like the wonderful Dog Soldiers (2002), those who decide to include it need to make sure they get it right, or it can kill the whole vibe of the film. So load up on silver bullets, mark your calendar for the next full moon, and check out 11 of the best werewolf transformations!