Collective Nightmares

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the horror film 28 Years Later. Well, 23 years later, not 28, but that’s okay. 28 Days Later was a groundbreaking film that introduced pop culture to fast, angry zombies. It established Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris as stars. This film, does not do those things. While there was some very impressive visuals, the world-building is lacking, the characters are terribly under-developed, and the actions are often asinine.This is also the first of two films made together. We were not impressed and remain skeptical that the second film can redeem this one.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2025 film Sinners, written, produced, and directed by R. Coogler.

Sinners is an original film from Ryan Coogler who returns to working with Michael B. Jordan as the acting lead. Sinners is an original film that is a much appreciated entry into the horror genre generally and more specifically black horror cinema. Sinners is an all around brilliant film that manages to be both intellectually robust, hugely entertaining, and exquisitely constructed.

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TOPIC INDEX – Sinners (Coogler 2025) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

3:30 – Film discussion begins without spoilers

11:30 – SPOILERS section begins

12:00 – representation in this specific sub-genre; see Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror (Burgin 2019)

1:35:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

Related Episodes

The Blackening (Story 2022)

Candyman (DaCosta 2021)

Related Films

Credits

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We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 146

Keywords

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Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2025 Norwegian film The Ugly Stepsister, written and directed by E. Blichfeldt. This film is fantastic! A dark inversion of a Cinderella story, The Ugly Stepsister creates a twisted fantasy world where the aesthetics are grotesque but we learn all the right lessons.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film It’s What’s Inside, written and directed by G. Jardin. This film is closer to the edge of horror than we usually venture, but the premise of the film was interesting enough that we gave it a chance. We hoped the film would explore the component of the sociological imagination that stresses the significance of fomenting strong empathy for others. It did so, but not in ways we found overall constructive. We felt the film kept the exploration of experiencing the perspective of another person at a very superficial level and it presents hegemonic beauty as the ultimate prize especially for women.

We also struggled just to keep track of everyone and who was who throughout the film.

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It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024)

TOPIC INDEX – It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

4:00 – Film discussion begins without spoilers

45:00 – phantasms: altering consciousness, body swapping,

Related Episodes

Credits

Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome.

We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 144

Keywords

sociology, horror, revenge, empathy, siblings, body swap, bodies, hegemonic beauty, comedy, woman as prize, science fiction,

The post It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the classic 1979 David Cronenberg film The Brood. While this is a Canadian film, we wanted to include this in our mini-series on pregnancy and women’s bodies because it came out in 1979. Reagan would be elected in 1980 after having married the racist Southern Strategy of Atwater with the opportunistic politicization of abortion by the evangelical christians.

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The Brood (Cronenberg 1979)

MINOR SPOILERS (thematic elements and/or tone)

TOPIC INDEX – The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

1:14:30 SPOILERS for The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Hanson 1992)

Related Episodes

Related Films

Credits

Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome.

We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 143

The Brood poster artwork by Sam Wolfe Connelly

The post The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Birth/Rebirth. This is a vaguely Frankensteinian film, that addresses control of women’s bodies from a unique perspective.  We very much appreciate a novel take especially given the current political climate. Laura was really impressed with the dominant read of the film as well as the representation of pregnancy, IVF, and prospective motherhood. Marshall had concerns of a possible contested reading of the film as critical of fetal science and respecting the choices of pregnant women.

There is lots more of our podcast!

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Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023)

TOPIC INDEX – Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

3:00 – Film discussion begins without spoilers

1:09:20 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

1:14:30 SPOILERS for The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Hanson 1992)

Related Episodes

Related Films

Credits

Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome.

We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 142

Keywords

The post Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Sociologists discuss the horror film Immaculate especially as it compares to The First Omen.

Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Red Rooms. Ostensibly this is a film about the dark web phenomemon of the titular red rooms. Oddly, the film did not actually offer any insight into red rooms. This film is different, and we definitely appreciate that. We just wish it offered something, anything!, interesting in terms of perspective or thoughts on the phenomenon it purports to address. We enjoyed it, learned nothing from it, but still enjoyed it.

There is lots more of our podcast!

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Red Rooms, this film

TOPIC INDEX – Red Rooms (Plante 2023) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

Related Episodes

Related Films

Credits

Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome.

We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 140

The post Red Rooms (Plante 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

The film is gorgeous. It is well acted. Unfortunately, Eggers seems to be moving toward the strain of modern horror directors who are style without substance. And or sytle without ethical substance. Eggers appears to be willing to stray from Stoker’s book as well as from the 1922 classic version by Murnau. However, the changes he makes are at best socially stagnant. He arguably relegates women to foils for men characters, or arguably regressive, stripping away the queer coding of Murnau’s version. So while his attention to appearance, acting, and in this case language is impressive, it makes the lack of consideration of the messaging of the film even more disappointing.

There is lots more of our podcast!

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Nosferatu (Eggers 2024)

TOPIC INDEX – Nosferatu (Eggers 2024) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

Related Films

Credits

Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome.

We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 139

The post Nosferatu (Eggers 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

This episode is dedicated in loving memory of our dear friend Matt Brown, PhD. You lived unabashedly out and gay. You loved cruising and the scene. And you always had a unique perspective. We would have loved to hear your thoughts on this film especially. We miss you!

Cruising was made during the brief few years post Stonewall and before significant awareness of AIDS that would decimate gay men especially throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In many ways we found this film to be more progressive, and offer better representation, of gay men than more recent films.

We reviewed the film on it’s own merits, as we encountered it as a text. After our discussion we became aware of there being significant controversy about the film especially at the time of its release. Our review does not address that. Cruising is intriguing, well constructed, and a fascinating allegory. And, it features a riveting performance by Al Pacino before he shifted into just acting as himself.

There is lots more of our podcast!

Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986)

TOPIC INDEX – Cruising (Friedkin 1980) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

Related Episodes

Credits

Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome.

We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares

Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts.

• www.collectivenightmares.com

Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage.

We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms.

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 138

The post Cruising (Friedkin 1980) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.