 | Phantasm 1979 The Immortal Nightmare of the Tall Man
A forgotten classic? Only by those who haven’t seen it.
Phantasm is one of those films that carved its place in the hearts of horror fans with a unique blend of dream logic, nightmare fuel, and surrealism. Directed by Don Coscarelli at only 23 years old, the film has become a true cult classic, spawning four sequels and introducing one of horror’s most haunting villains: the Tall Man.
Atmosphere of a nightmare
Phantasm is not a straightforward film. It doesn’t aim for perfect narrative logic, and that’s exactly where its strength lies. It’s a filmed nightmare, where reality twists and... Read More |
 | Carnival of Souls 1962 Carnival of Souls is a small miracle of American independent cinema. Shot on a shoestring budget and initially released to little success, it has since become a cult classic, revered by filmmakers, critics, and cinephiles alike. This unsettling film blends horror, experimental cinema, and a philosophical meditation on life and death.
One of Carnival of Souls' most remarkable elements is its atmosphere. Drawing inspiration from German Expressionist cinema and the work of directors like Ingmar Bergman, Herk Harvey creates a ghostly world where the line between reality and the surreal is constantly blurred. Maurice Prather’s stark... Read More |
 | Drag Me to Hell 2009 A grotesque descent into moral abyss disguised as supernatural horror.
Drag Me to Hell is not just a horror film: it's a cruel parable about judgment and guilt wearing the grotesque mask of a curse. Sam Raimi, with his unmistakable blend of the absurd and the disturbing, crafts a work that crawls under your skin—not because of its demons, but because of the unsettling doubt it leaves behind: how much evil can a good person do to get what they want?
The film walks a fine line between genuine terror and deliberately exaggerated farce. The special effects, intentionally old-school at times, harken back to the cult classic Evil... Read More |
 | The House with Laughing Windows 1976 The House with Laughing Windows is an unconventional masterpiece of Italian cinema—a film suspended between psychological thriller, rural horror, and gothic tradition, showing how true terror can stem more from suggestion than from explicit violence. Directed by a masterful Pupi Avati, the film stands out for its deeply unsettling atmosphere and its expert use of suspense.
Avati builds horror with surgical precision, using a slow pace to generate anxiety and opting for a restrained yet elegant direction. The film's true protagonist is what remains unsaid: the silences, the glances, the distant noises, and the overwhelming... Read More |
 | The House That Screamed 1969 Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, a cult figure in Spanish cinema, delivers a disturbing, elegant, and deeply layered film with The House That Screamed (La residencia). Far from the explicit horror typical of its era, this film plays with atmosphere, psychosexual undertones, and social repression to construct a gothic nightmare driven by a hypnotic rhythm and sustained tension.
Set in an isolated girls’ boarding school in 19th-century rural France, the film slowly builds a claustrophobic microcosm where discipline, control, and sexual repression reign supreme. The headmistress—masterfully played by Lilli Palmer—embodies a twisted... Read More |
 | Blood and Black Lace 1964 Considered one of the pillars of Italian horror cinema, Blood and Black Lace is a visual masterpiece that marked the birth of the giallo all’italiana subgenre. Directed by maestro Mario Bava, the film is an explosion of style, saturated colors and sharp shadows that transform a story of serial murders into a work of visual art.
The plot is typically whodunit, but Bava stands out for his innovative use of light and composition of the shot, making each scene a macabre and fascinating tableau.
On a narrative level, the plot is perhaps less surprising for the modern viewer, but its visual impact and the tense and decadent... Read More |
